Letisha R. Wyatt, PhD is an Associate Professor of Neurology and a Principal Investigator (PI) of the OHSU Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). She is a former bench neuropharmacologist with a strong record of mentorship in the laboratory and classroom. Dr. Wyatt has also served as faculty in the OHSU Library and the Center for Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research (CEDAR), working together with researchers to support open science practices and data stewardship needs. She is passionate about the development and implementation of training programs that broadens participation with the biomedical science workforce. 

Gary Westbrook, MD is a Senior Scientist in the Vollum Institute and the Dixon Professor of Neurology at OHSU. Dr. Westbrook received his MD and an MSE in Bioengineering from Case Western Reserve University. After clinical training in internal medicine and neurology in Boston and St. Louis, he worked in basic neuroscience research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. His neuroscience laboratory at the Vollum Institute is broadly interested in synaptic transmission, and in particular how neural circuits are formed, regulate their activity and contribute to the function of neural systems. He served as MPI with Kelly Monk of the NINDS T32 for the Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program (2019-2024), which was recently renewed.  He and Letisha Wyatt are MPIs of OHSU NIGMS PREP. As co-Director of the Vollum Institute (2005-2016) and Director of the Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program (2008-2018), he has been active in the recruitment and training of students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty, and has been proactive in broadening participation among trainees and faculty at OHSU. He is excited to contribute to the post-baccalaureate program. Read about work in his lab at www.ohsu.edu/vollum .

Joyce Pieretti, PhD (she/her) joined the PREP team in October 2022. Dr. Pieretti completed her PhD in Integrative Biology at the University of Chicago (2016) where she studied the shared developmental and regulatory features of fins and limbs. In 2015, Joyce served as an AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Univision. These experiences, among others, inspired Dr. Pieretti to focus on enhancing both undergraduate and graduate education, with the goal of creating more inclusive and supportive academic environments. Before joining PREP, Dr. Pieretti managed Portland State University’s LSAMP Program, an undergraduate program that promotes retention in STEM fields. She is excited to support OHSU PREP scholars’ journeys towards graduate school. Feel free to contact Dr. Pieretti at pieretti@ohsu.edu with any questions about PREP.