The Symposium Planning Committee invites you to meet our presenters for this year's 2024 Research Symposium. Join us as we congratulate all of our presenters on making such great strides with their scholarship and dissemination.
Our students, faculty, and BURI scientists work on diverse and fascinating research topics, and this symposium is one opportunity to celebrate their work, and share their scholarship with our community.
Thank you for your interest and participation in this year's symposium event!
Emmi-Nicole Armstrong
Emmi Armstrong is a senior in the BS Health Psychology: Integrated Wellness program. She is interested in the mind-body-spirit connection and how food further impacts mood. She plans to continue her studies at the graduate level and hopes to pursue a career in counseling.
Emma Arnold
Emma Arnold is in the naturopathic doctor program at Bastyr University in Kenmore with a career interest in research and clinical integrative oncology including prevention, treatment, and survivorship. She is looking forward to entering the clinic this summer as an NMS3.
LeRaih Beard-Appling
Hello, my name is LeRaih Beard-Appling and I am a student of Herbal Sciences. Since I was a little girl, nature has always been a source of inspiration and restoration. It was my belief that coupled with every problem, is a solution that can be found within our forests and preserved ecosystems. When I was 20 years old, I served my community as a Pharmacy Technician and was baffled by the untold truths of our medical system. Quite often, our clientele believed that their very livelihoods were dependent upon the medications they were prescribed. Through the observation of nature, however, I learned that the quality of life was more so reliant upon our diet, consumption through the five senses, and our relations. Our health is a cyclical experience and is a representation of how well we've adapted to life's stressors. Furthermore, it encompasses what we've endured psychologically, physiologically, and spiritually. Bearing witness to the incompleteness of our medical system through the monopolization of pharmaceutical companies, I sought a way to initiate change. This is what led to my enrollment in the Herbal Sciences program. While in the program I have had the opportunity to refine my outlook on nature, and its influence on our human experience. Ultimately, my goal is to build a center founded upon complete Wellness, where conditions of the mind, body, and spirit can be addressed. There I will house an Apothecary, where we will formulate nature’s medicine and serve my community as an Acupuncturist, Researcher and Author.
Pavitra Dave
Pavitra Dave is an 11th grade student at Tesla STEM High School. She is passionate about biology, particularly human systems and environmental impacts on them. Pavitra is currently taking AP Psychology and Forensics along with a research track allowing her to pursue her curiosity in conducting lab research. Under the mentorship of Dr. Wenner, she is grateful for the opportunity to explore her passions at the microscopic level.
Aaron Donny-Clark
Aaron Donny-Clark is currently preparing to enter his final year of the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (N.D.) program at Bastyr University’s flagship campus in Kenmore, WA. He was awarded the 2021-2022 Anna MacIntosh Junior Investigator Research Fellowship for work on sustainable resins. Building upon that work, he investigated cytokine responses to commercial extracts of Populus balsamifera (Salicaceae) and Pinus Spp.(Pinaceae) on human activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. He will be presenting his findings as a poster at the International Congress on Natural Products Research in Krakow, Poland, this summer. Aaron has also enjoyed working with other students and faculty on their research projects and looks forward to passing along the lessons he has learned in the lab in the coming year.
Heather Donohoe
Heather Donohoe is a senior in the BS Health Psychology: Integrated Wellness program. They are interested in trauma and the mind-body-spirit connection. They plan to continue their studies at the graduate level and hope to pursue a career in somatic counseling.
Lisa Elizondo
Emily Flick
Emily Flick is a second year MACP student, and will graduate this Summer. She is earning her Masters of Art in Counseling Psychology. Her hopes are to reach specific populations that are underserved such as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, and to start a private practice in the future. Due to her own experience with fibromyalgia and emotional trauma she decided to highlight research on treating the mind and body for these conditions which often co-occur.
Hannah Jackson
Hannah is a senior in the Herbal Science program and is the Herbarium Steward for the school’s pressed plant specimen collection. She is interested in a career involving taking clients for herbal consultations, making and selling herbal remedies, working with a naturopath to create a line of wellness products, and bringing a traveling apothecary to festivals and events. She enjoys creating art, dancing, and writing herbal memes, which she hopes will bring herbalism to a wider audience through humor, making plant medicine more accessible to people of all walks of life.
Keith Jacobson
Keith Jacobsen is an undergraduate senior in the Herbal Science program at Bastyr University. He has a passion for learning about plants and plant products, with a special interest in native pacific northwest and invasive plants.
Kyla Little
Luke Markis
Luke W. Markis is a second-year medical student at Bastyr University Kenmore. Having left a 20-year career as a Financial Crimes Investigator, he now dedicates his life to learning and investigating the human body. His research focus is on the potential immunomodulating effect and/or anti-cancerous properties of Agarikon mushrooms on both healthy human cells and human cancer cells. His career interests focus on men and women's hormone health, genetics, and preventative medicine.
Mattaya Miller
Mattaya Miller is a senior in the Herbal science program at Bastyr university. She is drawn to the poetry in science and all that can be applied to human health by observing the natural world around her.
Kathleen Lumiere
Kathleen Lumiere, DAOM, LAc, is a Professor of Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine (AEAM) at Bastyr University, where she also serves as Director of AEAM Research and the chair of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Lumiere is the editor of Convergent Points: An East-West Case Report Journal and its founder, along with Bastyr doctoral students and colleagues from other institutions. Her current research focus is practice-based evidence. In addition to teaching about research and the intersection of bioscience and acupuncture, Dr. Lumiere is a mentor to graduate students in teaching and integrative clinical settings. She has maintained a private practice in Seattle for over 20 years and is especially interested in pediatrics, integrative oncology, and women’s health. Her time off is preferably outside, often working to help build the Ching Community Garden in Shoreline, WA.
Crescent Pilewski
Crescent Pilewski is an herbalist in the final year of their Bachelor of Science in Herbal Sciences at Bastyr University. Their work is primarily motivated by agroecology, storytelling, reparative justice, and integrative healing strategies. They plan to return to the northern Appalachia region to integrate their herbal practice into their work in community as a farmer, artist, and ecologist.
Masa Sasagawa
Dr. Masa Sasagawa is an assistant research scientist at the Bastyr University Research Institute. He is also the director of research laboratories and adjunct faculty in the Department of Counseling and Health Psychology. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy, Nursing Science, University of Washington, 2018 and a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, Bastyr University, 2003.
Adrianne Smith
As an undergraduate senior in the Herbal Sciences program at Bastyr University, she's passionate about exploring the therapeutic potential of herbs, particularly within the South Pacific region. Her academic journey is fueled by a desire to expand her knowledge in wellness practices, including culinary arts, massage therapy, and pre/postnatal herbal therapies. Looking ahead, she will aim to pursue further certifications and degrees to deepen her understanding and contribute to holistic wellness practices.
Carolyn Soley
Carolyn Soley is a senior in the Herbal Science program. Next year she will be continuing her studies at Bastyr with a Masters of Science in Nutrition. She hopes to promote wellness through the use of plants for food and medicine.
Erin Sweet
Dr. Sweet graduated from Bastyr University and completed her residency training at the National University of Natural Medicine. She went on to earn a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health and completed a three-year NIH postdoctoral research fellowship at Bastyr University Research Institute. Dr. Sweet is one of eleven naturopathic physicians in Washington with board-certification in naturopathic oncology. She is currently an Associate Clinical Scientist at Bastyr University studying the effects of integrative oncology on health-related quality of life and clinical outcomes in people living with cancer. Her goal is to continue working toward greater understanding and acceptance of integrative medicine through research.
Alessandra Villegas
Alessandra Villegas is an undergraduate senior in the Herbal Science program at Bastyr University. She aims to further her studies in the Nutrition and Dietetics program, with a particular interest in integrating herbs into food as a means of preventative care.
Cynthia Wenner
Dr. Wenner is a Professor in the Department of Basic Sciences within the School of Natural Health Sciences. She is an instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses in Immunology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Infectious Diseases, Research design theory, Lab Research Methods, Integrated Case Studies and Bioethics. Dr. Wenner mentors undergraduate and graduate students in research exploring immunomodulatory and antitumor actions of botanical medicines and medicinal mushrooms. Dr. Wenner also is the program director and co-instructor of the international travel course, Evidence Base of the Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle.