Our success is intimately linked to the accomplishments of each and every member of our department.
Each month, four members are nominated and featured to celebrate their commitment to patient care, education, and research.
Current Featured Anesthesiology Department Members
Christy Boyle, CRNA, DNP
Nurse Anesthetist
Jeff Goff
Research Technician
Jena Isaacson
Clinical Informaticist
Andrew Wilkey, MD
Resident Physician
Featured Anesthesiology Department Members Archive
Ziwei Chen, PhD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: February 2021
Zi-Wei Chen is a research assistant professor in the Division of Basic Research. She was born in China and got her PhD in Peking University. She had her postdoc training in University of California, Los Angeles. She then moved to St. Louis and joined Dr. Alex Evers’ lab in 2007.
Ziwei has been enjoying the active and collaborative research environment at Washington University. Her major research interests are to characterize anesthetics binding sites in central nervous systems.
Outside of work, Zi-Wei loves cooking and spending time with her two children.
Wayland Cheng, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: November 2019
Wayland is an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist. His laboratory seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying lipid and anesthetic modulation of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and playing hockey and golf.
Kelly Chilson, MD
Associate Chief for Pediatric Anesthesiology; Professor, Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: March 2020
Kelly was born and raised in the great state of Missouri. She completed both medical school and residency at the University of Missouri, School of Medicine. Kelly then ventured to Children’s Hospital, Boston, for training in pediatric and pediatric cardiac anesthesia. Returning home, she joined the cardiac anesthesia team at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 2006 and now serves as the Associate Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology. Kelly enjoys spending time with her partner in crime, Dave, their two kids, Dean and Daley, and their very large, shoe eating rescue mutt, Lambeau.
Sara Clarkson, CRNA
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: January 2025
Sara Clarkson has been a CRNA at WashU Medicine since 2013 and has worked full-time at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for over a decade. She is a member of the pediatric cardiac anesthesia team and the Pediatric Anesthesia Gratitude Committee, and also teaches Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) to incoming SRNAs.
Sara lives in Holly Hills with her husband, Mark, her stepson, Felix, and their rescue pup, Bluey. In her free time, she enjoys weightlifting, yoga, hiking, scuba diving, traveling, and exploring new restaurants in St. Louis and beyond.