Meet Our Newest UW Neurological Surgery Residents!
Keanu Chee - Keanu, a native Hawaiian born and raised in Kailua, Hawai’i on the island of O’ahu, received his B.S. in Kinesiology and minor in chemistry from Oregon State University in 2017 and matriculated to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 2019. Keanu was selected for the University of Colorado School of Medicine Scholar’s Year fellowship where he conducted a full year of research under the mentorship of Dr. Todd Hankinson and Dr. Daniel Kramer. In Dr. Hankinson’s lab, Keanu studied the rare pediatric brain tumor, Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma, as well as the role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in craniopharyngioma pathogenesis. In Dr. Kramer’s lab, Keanu investigated the role of the piriform cortex in temporal lobe epilepsy. Outside of the hospital, Keanu enjoys long distance running, watching sports, playing the guitar, cooking, and spending time with his wife.
Margot Kelly-Hedrick - Margot was born in Seattle, WA. She majored in Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She received a Master of Bioethics from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. She completed her MD at Duke University in Durham, NC. During medical school, Margot also completed a fellowship in clinical ethics through Duke’s Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine. Her research includes topics in bioethics, medical education, and neurotrauma. Margot enjoys running, gardening, and spending time outside in the beautiful PNW.
Samantha Sadler - Sam was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She then attended Duke University, graduating with a B.S. in neuroscience and global health (’19). Alongside Dr. Michael Haglund and the Duke Global Neurosurgery & Neurology research group, she worked on-site with local neurosurgery staff at Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH) in Uganda to tackle high infection rates. Sam then went on to obtain her MD at Harvard Medical School (’24), where she continued to pursue global neurosurgery. Under the mentorship of Dr. Alexandra Golby, she participated in the development and validation of an early-stage, low-cost neuronavigation system for low-resource settings, called “NousNav.” Outside of neurosurgery, Sam passionately advocates for the representation, inclusion, and equitable treatment of medical trainees who live with chronic illness, health conditions, or disability. Her spare time is spent wine tasting, indoor cycling, and exploring local art museums.
Kevin Vanent - Kevin was born in Renton, WA and raised throughout southern King County. He attended Brown University for college where he graduated magna cum laude with a BSc in Neuroscience. Prior to medical school, he studied how common genetic variants influence the risk and outcome of cerebrovascular disease as a research associate at the Yale School of Medicine. He continued this research when he returned home to complete his medical training at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM). As a medical student, he was committed to advancing medical education and worked to improve the learning experience of his peers. He co-led the student effort to establish the medical education pathway and worked with UWSOM faculty to design new electives for those interested in learning about pedagogy in medicine. In his spare time, he enjoys mountaineering, photography, and exploring the PNW.