About Us

From left to right: Dr. J. Stephan Stapczynski, Dr. Matthew McEchron, Stephanie Rosen, Kristen Wagner, Paul Kang, and Kelley Howard

Matthew D. McEchron, PhD, is a Professor and Director of Scholarly Projects at The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix since 2013. His PhD was awarded from the Department of Psychology at the University Miami with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience; postdoc training in Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern Medical School; NIH-funded lab at the University of Wyoming; Director of WWAMI Medical Education and Regional Assistant Dean, University of Washington School of Medicine. He is a huge Arizona sports fan.

As the Director of the Scholarly Projects program at the The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, he oversees all aspects of the program, including the curriculum, personnel, student research projects, and mentor recruitment. He is very fortunate to be surrounded by a wonderfully supportive and resourceful team. Dr. McEchron has been involved in medical education and medical research since 2000. He has a unique and rewarding role at the medical school because he gets to know all of the medical students individually. He helps navigate the intricacies of each Scholarly Project, and guides the students through various stages of their development across the four years of medical school. He strongly encourages students and mentors to share thoughts about how to improve the Scholarly Project program and can be reached at mcechron@email.arizona.edu.

J. Stephan Stapczynski, MD, is an Emergency Medicine Physician who serves as a Scholarly Project Advisor and works primarily on the Scholarly Project portion of the Pathway Scholars curriculum. He reviews the MS2 oral presentations as well as the MS4 poster and thesis submissions and is an invaluable asset to the Scholarly Project team!

Dr. Stapczynski has a BS in Physics from MIT and graduated with his medical degree from UCLA. He is the former Director of the Emergency Department at Valleywise Health and former chair at U of Kentucky Medical Center. He is a college basketball fan, an avid reader of biographies and history, and enjoys spending time with his grandkids.

C. William Heise, MD, joined the Scholarly Project team in 2020. He is a medical toxicologist and family physician who joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix faculty in 2015. He earned his MD from the University of Iowa. He completed a residency in family medicine and a fellowship in medical toxicology at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. His teaching and research interests include critical care toxicology, precision medicine and clinical decision support. He practices with the Department of Medical Toxicology at Banner – University Medical Center and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He directs the Precision Medicine Theme at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Kristen Wagner, MS, MEd, has been working with the Scholarly Projects program since 2013, most recently as the Senior Coordinator. Some of her many duties include coordinating travel for students to present their research at national conferences, tracking student assignments, and overseeing the annual Scholarly Project Student Research Symposium. Kristen was born in Pennsylvania but has lived in Arizona for many years. In May, she completed her MEd in Learning Design and Technologies from Arizona State University and hopes to enter a PhD program in Education shortly. Kristen has also been a University of Arizona Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteer for over 15 years and works with school and community gardens throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area. She enjoys camping and fishing with her husband and children and spoiling her three rescued boxers. If you have any questions for Kristen, please feel free to reach out at krwagner@arizona.edu.

Stephanie Rosen, MPH, joined the SP team in 2018 as the Scholarly Projects Manager and her primary role is to identify and recruit Scholarly Project mentors in the clinical and scientific community. In addition, she helps to develop and retain faculty as SP mentors. She also promotes the visibility of the SP Program, outlines project strategies and mentor responsibilities to the community of researchers. Stephanie works closely with the SP team to track research projects and identify new areas for research productivity. Stephanie is a proud Washingtonian but is currently loving the Arizona sunshine. She enjoys skiing, trail running, rock climbing, hiking, camping, and spending time with her husband and dog, Riker. If you are interested in becoming a SP mentor, please contact Stephanie at sschott@arizona.edu.

Kelley Howard, MLIS is our Research Specialist for the Scholarly Projects program and has been with the team for one year. She is available to assist students and faculty with their research compliance questions and navigating the Institutional Review Board review process.

Kelley is a Connecticut native and recently earned her MLIS with a concentration in Medical and Community Health Information from the University of Arizona. She enjoys hiking adventures, traveling, archery, and spending time with her family and dogs. If you have questions about your research compliance, please email Kelley at kelleyhoward@arizona.edu.

Paul Kang, MPH, MS, is our primary biostatistician for the Scholarly Projects program and has been with the team for six years now. He is an invaluable resource for medical students and faculty mentors alike and can assist with research design, data collection, and data analysis. Paul is a Minnesota native and has an MPH from the University of Arizona – Tucson and an MS from ASU. He is currently a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Arizona – Tucson. His research interests are injury epidemiology and genetic association studies. His hobbies include playing golf, watching football, and spending time with his cute nephews (ages 5 and 3). To schedule an appointment, please email Paul at paulk@email.arizona.edu.