Jeff was born and raised in Kent, Washington. Immediately after high school he joined the United States Army, serving in the US, Germany and Kosovo. After his four and a half year tour in the Army, Jeff studied for his Bachelors of Science at the University of British Columbia. During his undergraduate career, Jeff worked in the lab of Michael Hayden, who also supervised his PhD. After completing his PhD, Jeff moved to Boston to pursue post-doctoral work under the supervision of Marcy MacDonald. Jeff returned home to Bellingham to join the Behavioral Neuroscience program at Western Washington University in September, 2010. In 2022, Jeff joined the Department of Neurology at the University of Washington.
Throughout his academic career, Jeff’s focus has been on better understanding, and ultimately trying to help treat, patients with Huntington’s Disease (HD). In addition to his scientific interest in HD, Jeff has a personal connection to the disease. His mother, Cindy, died after suffering with Huntington’s disease, placing her 6 children at 50% risk of inheriting the mutation which will cause the disease. In 2003, genetic testing revealed that Jeff had inherited a mutant copy of the Huntington’s disease gene from his mother, which means that in the absence of new treatments, he will eventually develop symptoms.
In addition to his work in the lab, Jeff is deeply involved in rare disease community work. In 2011, he founded HDBuzz.net, the first internet news platform for HD patients and their families worldwide. It delivers news about recent research happenings, written by scientists, in accessible language. The content is used as a news feed by many major HD organizations, and is translated into many languages.
In 2020, Stan Crooke founded the n-Lorem foundation, whose goal is to develop and deliver antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drugs to patients with nano-rare diseases for free, for life. Jeff joined n-Lorem’s efforts early via working with n-Lorem’s CTO, Frank Bennett, and the rest of the access to treatment committee to vet submitted cases for n-Lorem. At UW, this work continues, as a portion of Jeff’s time at UW is dedicated to continuing his work with n-Lorem.
Basic Information:
Media Sources:
- Documentary Film: Do You Really Want to Know
- Nature Outlook
- Seattle Times
- KIRO News
- Definitely Not the Opera
- Globe and Mail
- CBC News
- The Current (Audio)
- UBC Reports
- Window
- MIT Technology Review