Zack

Wettstein

MD

MS

biography

Dr. Wettstein is an ABEM Board Certified emergency medicine physician who works clinically at the UW Medical Center – Northwest. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology at Stanford University, where he concentrated in infectious disease and global health. Dr. Wettstein completed his Medical Doctorate with Distinction at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), where he developed his interest in the intersection of population health, emergency medicine, and climate change. As a medical student, he completed a yearlong research fellowship with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) studying the impact of wildfire smoke exposure on ED visits for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Dr. Wettstein completed his residency training in emergency medicine here at UW and has been working with Dr. Jeremy Hess and Dr. Amber Sabbatini from the Section of Population Health on a study investigating ED utilization from flooding in the US, supported by grant funding from the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF). He also collaborates with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Climate and Health Program as a Guest Researcher. His research interests include the human health implications of climate change, particularly among vulnerable populations, and community preparedness for environmental hazards including wildfire smoke, heat waves, and floods.

Education & Training

• MS in Epidemiology, UW School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2023)
• MD, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA (2018)
• Residency, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2022)

research & clinical interests

Research 

• Climate change impacts on human health
• Environmental hazards
• Human health adaptation to climate change and disaster preparedness
• Social determinants of health
• Population Health

publications