UW Faculty

Professor of Pediatrics

Dr. Jim Jarvis (He/Him) is a Pediatrician who has been working in the area of Indigenous children’s health for more than 30 years. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. Dr. Jarvis, who is of French Canadian and American Indian (Mohawk) ancestry, was raised in Vermont. After completing medical school at the University of Vermont in 1979, Dr. Jarvis spent most of his career in the Midwest, particularly at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, where he was Section Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology. While in Oklahoma, Dr. Jarvis was President of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s American Indian Association, and was awarded an American College of Rheumatology Clinician Educator Award for his work with American Indian students.

Dr. Jarvis did research training in rheumatology and Genetics at Washington University in St. Louis. His ongoing research includes investigations into why rheumatic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis are so common in Indigenous Americans. This work is expected to cast light on how diet change and chronic, intergenerational trauma lead to epigenetic changes that re-program cells of the immune system. Dr. Jarvis is the recent past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Native American Child Health and was the Founder and first co-Chair of the now bi-annual International Meeting on Indigenous Children’s Health, which brings together researchers and community advocates committed to advancing the health of Indigenous children throughout the western hemisphere, Pacific Islands, and Australia.

Professor of Family Medicine

Dr. LeeAnna Muzquiz (She/Her) is a native Montanan and a graduate of Montana State University where she earned a BS in Microbiology with a minor in Native American Studies. She graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) in 2000 and completed her Family Medicine training at Swedish Family Medicine Residency, Providence Campus in 2003. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and since finishing residency has worked for the CSKT in the Tribal Health Department where she served as Medical Director for 10 years as well as had a full-time practice.

In July, 2018 Dr. Muzquiz reduced her clinical work as she assumed a new role as the Associate Dean for Admissions at UWSOM. Her interests in medicine include women’s health and chronic disease management, particularly diabetes, as well as teaching and mentoring. She is passionate about improving the ecosystem of medicine through mentoring, advocacy, and influencing health policy and enjoys spending time with her family and enjoying beautiful Flathead Lake. She is the proud mother of two boys, Alex and Zak, and the wife of Tony Muzquiz.

Professor of Family Medicine

Theresa Maresca (She/Her) is a board-certified family physician and Clinical Professor at University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. A graduate of Vassar College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, Dr. Maresca has served reservation, tribal, and urban American Indian communities with a focus on training physicians to serve this population, and on maintaining cultural practices including Indigenous plant medicine and food knowledge. A former President of the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP), Dr. Maresca serves on several medical school advisory committees working to increase the workforce of Native people serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

She is a former Director of the University of Washington Native American Center of Excellence and the Seattle Indian Health Board’s family residency training program, and remains on core faculty. In addition, she holds a teaching position with the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority’s residency program in Tacoma, WA. Dr. Maresca is the recipient of multiple mentorship and community service awards and has advised a variety of national curriculum committees on cultural competence and grant review boards focused on Native American health disparity reduction.

Assistant Professor of Family Medicine

Dr. Joseph Nelson (He/Him) is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington. He practices broad-spectrum family medicine, including primary care, obstetrics, newborn, and inpatient adult medicine. He is currently the Director of the UWSOM Indian Health Pathway, an associate program director for the UW Family Medicine Residency, and a planning committee member for the Family Medicine Residency Network Resident Leadership Conference. In his free time, Dr. Nelson enjoys playing basketball, fishing for salmon, and enjoying time with his wife Claire and dog Hugo.