About Us

Prior to leading Format Health, Brian Howe provided operations leadership at other early-stage healthcare, tech, real estate, and manufacturing businesses. His early career was in business law. Married with one young child, he’s a longtime Seattle resident who loves any outside activity that creates a sense of soaring and always has a podcast recommendation.

Since 2003 Dr. Ross has held the rank of full professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. In 2005, was named by the dean of the University of Washington School of Medicine to serve as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Simulation, now known as the WWAMI Institute for Simulation in Healthcare (WISH).

In 1975, he received his Ph.D. in physiology/pharmacology from the University of North Dakota and went on to complete postdoctoral research in the area of respiratory disease at the University of Washington. He received his M.D. in 1983 from the University of Washington School of Medicine, and in 1986, completed a fellowship in Obstetrical Anesthesia from the University of California at San Francisco, before returning to the University of Washington to complete a residency in anesthesiology. As a faculty member, over his career has served as the director of Regional Anesthesia, director of Obstetrical Anesthesia, and most notably served 16 years as the program director for the Department of Anesthesiology.

Dr. Ross’s interest and involvement in medical simulation and team training has been apparent since 1994, when he opened the first formal simulation center at the University of Washington for the Department of Anesthesiology and then went on to develop a formal simulation curriculum for the department. Since that time, he has been responsible for the development of simulation education for team and interprofessional training for over 30 departments and programs at the University of Washington. In 2009, Dr. Ross headed the UW’s TeamSTEPPS training efforts by becoming the director of one of 6 National TeamSTEPPS Master Training sites. Through community outreach and the continuous development of simulation and team training curriculum, the WISH program, under the direction of Dr. Ross, has become an educational cornerstone for the university, community, region (including the 5-state WWAMI area – Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho), and in fact internationally as well as the medical simulation industry.

Dr. Ross retired in July of 2017, is now a professor emeritus, but continues his work in simulation on several grants, one is with the Regional Heart Center where he is developing simulation experiences for rural practitioners around acute and advanced heart failure. He also does considerable pro-bono work for the newly built UW School of Nursing Simulation Center.

Nicholas Ong is a creative, strategic senior executive with more than 30 years of experience in medical devices/healthcare industry. With a dynamic record of top-level leadership, Nicholas has led turn-around and growth in various multinational medical device corporations. He brings a wealth of global experience with particular strengths in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), strategies development, sales & marketing, new product development and design, new market penetration, and new distribution network development. Worked and lived in Asia, Europe and the United States, Nicholas has in-depth international experience and network especially in fast growth markets such as China, Asia Pacific, Latin America and others.

For more than 12 years, Nicholas held various senior executive positions in Spacelabs Healthcare and led the Company as President. Prior to Spacelabs Healthcare, he served as the Integration leader in Asia Pacific for GE Healthcare acquisition of Instrumentarium of Finland.

Nicholas also served as the President/Managing Director of Asia Pacific for Datex-Ohmeda, Ohmeda and Steris Inc. He started his career with Beckman Instruments in Singapore, facilitated it’s turned around in Southeast Asia.

In addition to his executive career, Nicholas served on the Economic Development Commission of Snoqualmie City in Washington, Board Member of the International Community Health Services Foundation, Board Member of Keiro Northwest , Chinese American Citizens Alliance and the OCA Seattle Chapter.

Nicholas obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley and holds an MBA from Henley Management College in the United Kingdom.

Michelle joined Format to lead clinical operations and partner with hospital leadership to manage implementation strategy. She started her nursing career at a busy emergency department in Los Angeles County, where she was honored with a “Nurse of Distinction” award after developing curriculum to improve detection of child abuse in the emergency department. Prior to joining Format, Michelle held nursing leadership roles in and out of the hospital setting in the Seattle area. She enjoys traveling with her family, live music, and yoga.

Graham Kim brings his expertise and experience in biomedical informatics research and development. As the Product Manager, he is passionate about delivering intuitive and user-centered products that ultimately improve health care and patient outcomes. Prior to joining Format Health, Graham was the Senior Technology Licensing Fellow at CoMotion, where he helped commercialize early-stage University of Washington innovations. He holds a PhD in Biomedical and Health Informatics from the University of Washington.

Shari brings over 20 years of project management experience to Format Health.

Prior to Format Health, Shari has a record of management success, including strong leadership and project management experience in the non-profit, healthcare, real estate and start-up sectors. She’s a highly organized and detail-oriented planner, with a talent for prioritizing, and the ability to respond effectively and efficiently while maintaining flexibility and a sense of humor.

Shari is a native of Seattle, loves a challenge, is committed to volunteerism, enjoys travel and possess a love of all animals.