Dr. Kara Sawarynski became a faculty member in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in 2012. Dr. Sawarynski is an Embark Program Co-Director, which includes development and implementation of the longitudinal research design courses, directing of the first year through fourth year medical students in the conception and execution of their required independent research projects, and oversight on Embark Program events. Kara also teaches cell biology, serves as Vice-Chair of the Foundational Medical Studies Department, is an active member of the medical schools holistic Admissions Committee, and serves on several other institutional and national education committees.
Dr. Sawarynski received her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from the Lee Honors College of Western Michigan University. She completed her doctoral work in Cancer Biology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Her research career spans molecular and cellular biology, cancer biology, and infectious diseases within a variety of model systems, and is now focused on medical education techniques. Her current research is focused on medical student wellness, improving curricular modalities for research design instruction, and developing educational scaffolds to support iGen students.
Dr. Sawarynski is a member of several Foundational Medical Studies Scholarly Interest Groups, the AAMC Scholarly Concentration Collaborative and the International Association of Medical Science Educators.
Contact Information:
Office: 473 O’Dowd Hall
Phone: 248-370-3671
Email: sawaryns@oakland.edu
Cellular and molecular biology, medical education, research design
Ph.D., Cancer Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine/Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI
B.S., Biomedical Sciences, Lee Honors College of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Research Interests:Medical Education: medical education, research design,
instruction and program management, medical student study skills, educational technology development
Basic Science: molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer biology
