Tanya Matthews is the director for the Kaiser Permanente Washington Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human Research Protection Program. She has over 15 years of expertise in research ethics and human subjects research regulations. 

As a former professor and teacher, she brings a teaching and learning lens to all that she does, including asking complex questions about KP Washington's ethical responsibilities to its research participants and members. 

She started her IRB career in the Human Subjects Division at the University of Washington. She has been part of the KP Washington IRB since 2010, first serving as the IRB chair and in 2016 taking on the role of director.

Ms. Matthews is a board member of the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research, a member of AEREO: The Consortium to Advance Effective Research Ethics Oversight, and currently sits on the King County Women’s Advisory Board.

She holds several degrees in linguistics, including a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Cornell University.