Profiled

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 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 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.

Derek Clary, DO, is currently a CA-3 resident at WashU/BJH. Dr. Clary has lived in many different places across the country, traveling for work before starting medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in 2016.  After living in the Midwest for eight years now, he has grown accustomed to the niceties of the Midwest.  Although he will always consider himself a proud Californian, he now happily calls St. Louis home and plans to stay here after training.

In his past life, he enjoyed playing music and basketball. In his current life, he enjoys cooking, playing pickleball with his family and friends, and going on walks with his fiancée Melissa and their dog Tillie.

Derek reports 2023 to be one of his most exciting years yet! This year he matched into the Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship at WashU/St. Louis Children's Hospital, became engaged to Melissa, and this month they will be getting another puppy just in time for the holidays!

Fun Fact: Although he is entering Pediatric Anesthesiology fellowship next year, he is still learning how to correctly hold a baby.

Melissa Milbrandt is the business manager for the Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology and the Division of Perioperative Medicine. She's been with the department for three great years. Melissa is a St. Louis native and completed her undergraduate degree at WashU. After completing an administrative fellowship in Denver following graduate school, she decided to return home to WashU and join the department of Anesthesiology.

In her current role, Melissa is responsible for providing business and operational leadership for her divisions, including strategic planning and financial and operations management, and supporting the development of people, programs, and initiatives. Melissa feels very lucky to work with outstanding clinicians and staff in both divisions and throughout the department of Anesthesiology. She loves to spend time with her family and friends in her free time, travel, and be active, especially to be out of doors with her Brittany Spaniel, Tillie.

Chelsea joined WashU Medicine Anesthesiology in June 2023, starting as a Medical Secretary before advancing to her current role as Executive Secretary. In this position, she ensures the monthly scheduling of pain management physicians and coordinates patient appointments with the department’s psychologist.

Before joining WashU, Chelsea spent 14 years in dialysis, providing essential treatments to patients. Since becoming part of the team, she has cherished every moment and hopes to continue her journey here until retirement. She values the connections she has built and looks forward to fostering more relationships.

Outside of work, Chelsea enjoys traveling, skating, swimming, and going on cruises. She also has a 13-year-old Chihuahua named Chico, who loves to cuddle.

Aaron is originally from St. Louis, MO, but grew up in Huntsville, AL. He graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 2018. He currently works in Dr. Aaron Norris's lab as a research technician II and has been under Dr. Norris's direct supervision for two years.

Aaron performs experiments on specific in vivo mice strains using chemogenetics and optogenetics to gather information regarding metabolism and thermoregulation. Currently, he is studying the role of Kappa Opioid Receptors (KOR) in thermoregulation, when the KORs are activated, and how the KORs are being modulated.

Aaron was a contributing author to a paper recently published in the scientific journal eLife, titled: “Parabrachial opioidergic projections to preoptic hypothalamus mediate behavioral and physiological thermal defenses," and is researching the role of KORs and ultimately have a better understanding of KORs endogenous ligand dynorphin.

Aaron likes to play pickleball in his free time and enjoys hanging out with his friends and sister when the opportunity presents itself. In addition, he wants to also give thanks to his mother and grandmother for having an impactful role in his life.

Sarah joined the department as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the CTICU in January 2016 after graduating from the ACNP program at Saint Louis University. She previously worked as a nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for 6 years. She loves caring for cardiac surgery patients and teaching new employees and students. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and their 15-month-old daughter, Olivia. In her spare time, she likes to do yoga and work on craft projects.

Jasmine Crane is currently an Administrative Coordinator II in the Division of Critical Care Medicine for the Department of Anesthesiology. She has been with the division since 2017 and hopes to continue growing with Critical Care and Anesthesiology for the foreseeable future!

Jasmine came to St. Louis from Tallahassee with her boyfriend, AJ, and their two dogs (a dachshund named Toby and a pit bull mix named Harley) a year after graduating from Florida State University with a BA in Media/Communication Studies. Initially, wanting to become an investigative journalist, Jasmine has since found new interests and passions that keep her busy, such as baking, yoga, fitness activities, cooking, and traveling. She recently completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2023 and is looking forward to continuing with that journey! She was born in Texas, and then lived in Alaska for 11 years before moving to north Florida to complete high school and college. Her move to STL is hopefully a big step toward getting her back out west where she feels most at home with the mountains and snow.

In her spare time, you can find Jasmine baking something delicious, taking various types of fitness classes, attempting to work through her to-be-read list of books, spending time with her boyfriend and puppers, and daydreaming about moving to the European countryside!