Lara received her undergraduate degrees in biology and nursing at the University of Portland and the University of Alaska. She continued her education for her nurse practitioner graduate degree at the University of Alaska.

She is a born and raised Oregonian. She has practiced nursing in a variety of settings ranging from larger cities to small towns in both Alaska and Oregon. She enjoys working at the OHSU walk-in clinic where she can address her patients’ immediate health care needs and also work towards longer term prevention of illness and promoting wellness. She also appreciates working with her patients in a team approach. 

Lara has been able to volunteer for three medical missions in Haiti and plans to participate in more missions. When she is not seeing patients, she enjoys living an active lifestyle that includes, backcountry skiing, climbing mountains, surfing, and mountain biking.