JosephWaltersDO

Summary

• Joseph grew up in a small town in northeastern Wyoming with a veterinarian father, a mother who worked as a special needs para-educator, and four brothers. After working construction throughout high school, Joseph decided to pursue a career in research. He attended Montana State University- Billings, graduating cum laude in 2018 with degrees in Biology and Psychology with honors designation. While an undergraduate, Joseph became heavily involved in research with an NIH-funded molecular and developmental neuroscience lab. He co-authored papers published in Nature Communications, Biology Open, and Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications detailing the role that the mutated gene IKBKAP plays in regulation of protein synthesis in patients with the rare disease Familial Dysautonomia. Joseph presented his research to regional and national scientific conferences including the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C., and received the Laurie Henneman Outstanding Student Presentation Award for Best Research Presentation at the Montana Academy of Sciences. After publication, Joseph decided to decrease the distance from researcher to patient and pursued a career in medicine so he could be more involved with patient care. During pre-clinicals, Joseph volunteered as a student medical provider at a free healthcare clinic, offered COVID support at the Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, and provided weekly home visits to palliative and hospice care patients where he would spend a few hours simply sitting and talking with end-of-life patients. Joseph matched into psychiatry at Billings Clinic in Billings, Mt. Through his experience in medicine, research, and volunteering, he hopes to provide competent and current medical care to residents in rural and underserved communities in Montana and surrounding areas.