Residents
| Anaid Carlo Allende | 206-616-7772 |
| Nicole Oey | 206-616-7772 |
| Dan Swanson | 206-685-0373 |
| Yi-Fan Shen | 206-685-0373 |
Anaid Carlo Allende, 1st year resident
Anaid Carlo Allende was born and raised in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. She earned her B.Ag.Sc. in Animal Science and a Pre-Veterinary Medicine Certificate from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, followed by a Master’s in Laboratory Animal Science from Drexel University. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Western University of Health Sciences in 2026.
Throughout her academic training, Anaid participated in research involving neuroscience, immunology, and comparative medicine. She is currently working in the Ram Lab on a project investigating IL-15–mediated activation of type I interferon responses and the induction of an antiviral state that may improve the efficacy of future HIV vaccines.
Her professional interests include animal welfare, anatomical pathology, comparative medicine, and public outreach, with a particular passion for promoting responsible animal research and improving animal well-being.
Outside of work, Anaid enjoys drawing, spending time with family, a little retail therapy, exploring new cities, and visiting local farmers markets.
Nicole Oey, 1st year resident
Nicole Oey is originally from Buford, Georgia and received a B.S. in Biology at Emory University in 2022. She worked in a neuroscience lab for 3 years during her undergrad studying songbird learning systems and mouse locomotion. Nicole earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (VMD) at the University of Pennsylvania in 2026. During her vet school training, she completed a summer research project in parasitology and went back to Emory University for her ASLAP Fellowship. Her current research in the Mathieu Lab focuses on investigating the development of spina bifida using human induced pluripotent stem cells.
Outside of work, Nicole enjoys drawing, hiking and exploring the outdoors around Seattle, playing video games, and spending time with her two cats, Callie and Sage.
Yi-Fan Shen, 2nd year resident
Yi-Fan Shen is originally from Taipei, Taiwan. He earned a B.S. in Microbiology and a B.A. in Business from the University of Rochester in 2020. After graduation, he completed his military service and spent a year working at a molecular diagnostics company in Taiwan.
Yi-Fan received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from The Ohio State University in 2025. During his training, he completed research projects spanning swine epidemiology, canine oncology, non-human primate behavior, and vampire bat husbandry. Following graduation, he joined the Laboratory Animal Medicine program at the University of Washington. His professional interests include oncology, advancement of the 3Rs, and large animal surgery, anesthesia, and analgesia. His current research in the Duran-Struuck Lab focuses on the engineering and cross-species application of chimeric antigen receptors.
Outside of work, Yi-Fan enjoys playing tennis and golf, running and participating in races, working out, traveling, and playing video games.
Dan Swanson, 3rd year resident
Dr. Swanson is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Bunker Hill Community College before transferring to UMass Boston, where he received his B.S. in Biology in 2019. He earned his DVM in 2024 from Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Swanson’s professional interests include neurology, pharmacology, and molecular physiology. His current research at the University of Washington focuses on comorbidities in rodent models of epilepsy.
Outside of his residency, Dr. Swanson enjoys snowboarding, watching baseball, and exploring different cultures through travel and reading.
Prior Fellows
Rachel Moore (2023-2026)
Rachel Moore is originally from Cranston, Rhode Island and received her B.S. in Biomedical Science from the University of New Hampshire in 2018. She then worked for a year at a contract research organization in the Boston area primarily focused on cardiac medical devices. Rachel earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Prince Edward Island in 2023. Her clinical interests include anesthesia and analgesia for laboratory animals, the refinement of surgical procedures and techniques, and the advancement of environmental enrichment and animal welfare across species. Her current research project in the Mathieu laboratory investigates novel tooth enamel regenerative therapies using human induced pluripotent stem cells. In her free time, Rachel enjoys hiking, running, woodworking, exploring Seattle’s food scene, reading, traveling to new places, and spending time with her Siamese cat, Kiwi.
Jianing Xu (2023-2026)
Jianing Xu is from Hangzhou, a historic and scenic city in eastern China. She earned her Animal Science degree from UC Davis in 2018 and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (VMD) from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023. Before vet school, she worked as a bioinformatician at a genetics company, where she developed expertise in computational biology and genomics. Her combined background in veterinary medicine and bioinformatics drives her interest in using genetic and computational tools to study disease mechanisms in both animals and humans. As a future laboratory animal veterinarian, she hopes to integrate her expertise in comparative medicine, genetics, and computational biology to advance translational research.
Beyond her work, Jianing enjoys outdoor adventures such as climbing, mountaineering, paddleboarding, and backpacking. She also has a passion for growing plants and caring for animals. She adopted two Long-Evans rats, Naruto and Sasuke, and a Syrian hamster, Pumpkin, from the University of Washington at beginning of her residency. They now happily share their home with her beloved cats, Shan-shan and Foo-Foo.