About PNRI
PNRI is a nonprofit biomedical research institute, where forward-thinking scientists use innovative approaches to tackle some of the most difficult problems in science and medicine.
The Institute was founded in 1956 by Dr. William Hutchinson in Seattle, Washington, as a place where scientists were free to pursue discoveries that promised the highest chance of improving human health. The goal was at the beginning, and remains today, to conduct foundational science leading to impactful medical innovations.
Today, PNRI’s main research domain is genetics, which we believe is at the core of understanding human health and disease. Further, PNRI believes that scientific breakthroughs are found in unexpected places—often at the intersection of multiple scientific disciplines—which is why we place a high value on collaboration. Our relentless pursuit of discovery is fueled by our intrinsic ambition to create a healthier future for all humans.
Contact Information for Media
If you are a reporter or member of the media and would like to speak with a PNRI scientist, please email or call.
Louise Maxwell
Director of Communications
206-568-1479
About PNRI Scientists
PNRI scientists are among the world’s leading experts in genetics and genomics research. They are available to discuss their research as well as provide context and commentary on issues and advances in genetics and genomics. Please visit the profile pages below to learn more about their respective areas of expertise.
Cláudia Carvalho, PhD
Assistant Investigator
Key topics: rare disease research, DNA structural variations that are challenging to detect, such as insertions, inversions, and translocations, how structural variants contribute to gene expression dysregulation and disease, genetic underpinnings of Robinow Syndrome.
Cláudia M.B. Carvalho, PhD earned her PhD in biochemistry from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Aimée Dudley, PhD
Senior Investigator
Key topics: rare disease research, yeast genetics, inherited metabolic disorders, urea cycle disorders, high-throughput sequencing, antifungal drug resistance.
Aimée Dudley, PhD earned her BS in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her PhD in genetics from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Dudley was an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School.
Rick McLaughlin, PhD
Assistant Investigator
Key topics: non-coding DNA, junk DNA, transposable elements, coevolution of genomes and transposable elements, retrogens, genome evolution, host vs. pathogen, biological underpinnings of autoimmune diseases, disease susceptibility.
Richard McLaughlin, PhD earned his PhD in molecular biology and protein evolution at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and then completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Harmit Malik at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Michael Metzger, PhD
Assistant Investigator
Key topics: cancer evolution, cancer genomics, transmissible cancer, contagious cancer, transmissible cancer in marine bivalves, how clams have evolved resistance to cancer, how transmissible cancer spreads in clams and other bivalves, how cancers evolve together with their hosts.
Michael Metzger, PhD earned his BS at Cornell University. Then, he went onto the University of Washington for his MS in Epidemiology and PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, focusing on targeted methods of viral gene therapy, in the lab of Dr. Dusty Miller at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Lisa Stubbs, PhD
Senior Investigator
Key topics: genetics of brain development, genetics of behavior, gene regulatory networks, how brains determine resilience or susceptibility to disease, how genes determine the brain’s response to chronic stress, mechanism of AUTS2-linked neurodevelopmental disorders, Tcf7l2 at the nexus of social stress, metabolic disorders and neuropsychiatric disease, Decoding Stress study.
Lisa Stubbs, PhD earned her PhD in biology with a focus in molecular genetics from the University of California, San Diego, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the California Institute of Technology and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.