Profiled

Department of Anesthesiology APP of the Quarter: April 2022

Kevin began his career in healthcare in 2005 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a Respiratory Therapist, followed by Physician Assistant school at Saint Louis University—graduating in 2015. "I have thoroughly enjoyed my APP career with full-time work in Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and now Critical Care Medicine," says Kevin. "Each area has helped me to grow my knowledge of medicine. I truly love my career and hope to share this passion with my surrounding peers and the community we serve." In his free time, he enjoys camping, hiking, reading, watching re-runs of old TV shows and movies, and most of all: spending time with his family. He has a wonderful family including a beautiful wife, three daughters, three cats, and a wonderfully talented Australian Shepherd.

Kevin was named the Q1 2022 APP of the Quarter! “Kevin has been an excellent addition to our critical care team. Despite having previous experience, he does not hesitate to ask for advice on topics he is not familiar with. He is always willing to help out when needed and provides exemplary bedside manner with not only patients but their family members as well. He somehow manages to stay calm despite any type of situation and has been wonderful to work with.” Congratulations, Kevin!

 

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: March 2024

Rose is a CRNA at Progress West Hospital. She grew up in St. Louis, but moved to Kansas City to attend nursing school at Rockhurst University. After graduating, she worked in the Neuro ICU at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She decided to return to St. Louis to attend CRNA school at Webster University and got married shortly after graduation. Rose and her husband have two boys, William and Finn. After Finn was born, Rose was looking for a job with a better work-life balance. One of her best friend’s from CRNA school, Abby, told her about her great anesthesia group with a better schedule at Progress West Hospital. In 2020, Rose joined the Progress West team and is very happy! Outside of work, Rose likes to spend time with her family and friends, swim, play pickleball, and watch Bravo reality shows.

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: September 2023

Bianca Ewa Szafarowicz is one of the new interns in the Department of Anesthesiology here at WashU. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and played college basketball at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. After her athletic career ended, she began coaching high school basketball and working at a local hospital in Jefferson City to see if medicine and healthcare were in her future. Eventually, she went to the southwest and worked at Phoenix Children’s Hospital for a year. The short stay was quickly extended to finish her master’s degree and to start medical school at the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University. At the end of her second year of medical school, she and her husband welcomed a baby boy named Tytus. He is not so little anymore, and much of her extra time is spent exploring all the family-friendly aspects of St. Louis, like the zoo, aquarium, and local parks. In addition to all the children’s attractions, she enjoys trying out new restaurants, breweries, live music, and sporting events. Bianca loves the winter for the snow. She learned how to ski when she was six years old, eventually transitioned to snowboarding, and has been hitting the slopes every winter since then. She heard about the Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Wildwood, MO, and is excited to visit this upcoming season. The last fun fact about Bianca is that she has had her Halloween decorations up since September 1!

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: July 2021

Peter is currently a CA-2 resident in the Department of Anesthesiology. Peter was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 4, growing up near Detroit, Michigan. Prior to medical school, Peter completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree and worked as a pharmacist in his local community. While continuing to work part-time as a pharmacist, he went on to medical school in pursuit of his dream of becoming a physician. Peter moved to St. Louis in 2019 to begin residency training in our department.

When not at work, Peter loves to travel and explore new places both locally and internationally. He has been to over 35 countries. One of his favorite adventures was a 3 month backpacking trip that took him around the world to 9 different countries. When he left home, he didn't even know when he would be coming back and planned the itinerary on the go! Peter is looking forward to future post-pandemic travel adventures.

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: January 2024

Ally Tacony recently joined the Department of Anesthesiology as the Director of Business Operations-Finance. She's excited about the opportunity to learn something new.

Ally is a St. Louis native, born in St. Louis county and moved to Hillsboro as a teenager. She graduated from Webster University with a bachelor's degree in accounting and an MBA. She started her career as an intern at AT&T and spent 13 years in various roles in accounting and finance. Ally has been married for 10 years to her husband, Nathan, and they have an 8-year-old daughter named Ellie.

Outside of work, Ally likes talking her husband into home projects, traveling, spending time outdoors (in nice weather), and spending time with family and friends.

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: February 2022

Brandon Tan, MD, is a PGY-4 ASAP resident/fellow currently engaged in ion channel/membrane research while continuing his Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship. He is fascinated by membranes and kids’ brains! He attended Duke University for his undergraduate degree and the University of Cincinnati for medical school.

While not working, Brandon can be found spending time with his family (wife and 2 kids), singing, and telling the best/worst jokes (puns).

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: November 2021

Loc Thang, MD, PhD, was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States when he was a young boy.

He obtained his Master of Biomedical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan and then completed the MSTP program at Michigan State University.

He is an alumnus of the Department's Academic Scholars Advancement Program (ASAP) where he completed his residency training, a pain medicine fellowship, and nearly two years of research time. Currently, he is an instructor of anesthesiology and pain management. He also has served as the associated program director of the pain medicine fellowship since 2020.

His main interest is to alleviate human suffering of pain through educating the next generation of pain physicians, caring for acute/chronic pain patients, and researching ways to understand how norepinephrine modulate moods/pain.

Loc enjoys spending time outdoors including traveling and skiing. One of his memorable adventures was three months he spent in Ghana researching plant medicine. In his spare time, Loc enjoys hanging out with his lovely wife, Kim, and his two energetic sons, Isaiah and Isaac. The boys love to spend time together making garden beds and digging holes for Kim to plant her many beautiful flowers.

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: October 2025

Jeremy Thompson, MD, PhD, is an Instructor in Anesthesiology in the Division of Pain Management and a member of the Washington University Pain Center, conducting research in Meaghan Creed’s Laboratory on how chronic pain reshapes mesolimbic dopamine circuitry with a focus on SK channel regulation in VTA→NAc neurons. He earned a BE in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University, completed his MD/PhD in translational neuroscience at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and then finished anesthesiology residency and pain medicine fellowship at WashU Medicine through the Academic Scholars Advancement Program. He is currently supported by the FAER Alison Cole Endowed Mentored Research Training Grant. Outside of work, he enjoys playing with his cat, baking, building LEGO sets, and running in Forest Park.

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: December 2022

Brian was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Soon thereafter, his family became a military family and "home" became a moving target! Growing up in different parts of the United States and around the world was a privilege that he credits his mother for (a single mother and retired Lieutenant Colonel). Landing in Missouri in the mid-90’s, he finished high school and went on to attend the University of Missouri, Columbia. Following his undergraduate college years, he launched his career in St. Louis at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and hasn’t looked back!

As a CRNA in the Department of Anesthesiology, he also serves as the assistant director of the nurse anesthesia program, a collaboration between WashU Anesthesiology and Barnes-Jewish College of Nursing. Brian’s clinical practice has focused on anesthesia for cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. Over the years he has developed several successful clinical research collaborations with a number of the department’s faculty and scientists. In his role as faculty, his teaching has focused on anesthetic pharmacology, preoperative health assessment, simulation, and the basic principles of anesthesiology.

When not at work, he enjoys spending time with his partner, Steven, and their three endlessly entertaining pets; Pip (neurotic miniature pincher), Foxie (goofy foxhound), and Spanky (snarky grey tuxedo cat). Travel, hiking, cooking (and eating), and music are among his favorite pastimes. He can regularly be seen at the Tower Grove Farmers Market on Saturdays, but you must get there early as that’s when the best picks are to be had! He hopes to see you there sometime soon (or at least come springtime…)!

Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: April 2022

Yolanda joined the research division as a Grant Specialist II in September 2020. She assists with the pre-and post-award grant application process.

The mother of two received her Masters in higher education from Saint Louis University, where she also worked as a financial specialist for over 15+ years.

Outside of work, Yolanda loves watching movies and writing.