OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - Key Persons


Adam J. Branscum

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Adejoke Babatunde

Job Titles:
  • Extension Family and Community Health Program / OSU Extension Service
  • SNAP - Ed Education Program Assistant

Ahmad Ahmadi

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Research Assistant
Ahmad is a Ph.D. candidate at the kindergarten readiness lab. He graduated from the University of Tehran, Iran, in 2017 with a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in special education, where he studied executive function among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities. Ahmad's research interests center around the development of the executive function, its measurement, and the link to early academic performance, specifically the relationship between executive function and math.

Alan Calvert

Job Titles:
  • Web Communications

Alexis Merculief

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Research Assistant
Alexis is interested in how features of the built and social environment influence cognitive development (specifically, executive function) in early and middle childhood; as well as how community resilience and cultural identity can promote long-term health and academic achievement for children from underserved populations. Alexis graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from Seattle Pacific University where she researched self-regulation in children with Autism. She is an Aleut tribal member and previously worked to promote health and well-being in American Indian/Alaska Native children through youth program development at an AI/AN health organization in the Northwest.

Alexis Tracy

Job Titles:
  • Training Manager
Alexis is a training manager at Oregon State University managing the Red Light, Purple Light self-regulation intervention training and implementation and the Early Learning System Initiative (ELSI) training core. Through these two programs, Alexis works to support, enhance, and create high quality and evidence based trainings for the early learning workforce in Oregon and beyond. Her research and training interests include social and emotional development in young children, practical and easy to implement games and activities for early learning settings, and educator well-being.

Alicia Miao

Job Titles:
  • Director of Data Strategy and Management

Allen Chan

Job Titles:
  • Student
Allen is currently a doctoral student of Environmental and Occupational Health at CPPHS. He is interested in approaching occupational health and safety questions or problems from a Total Worker Health (TWH) perspective, which recognizes that work is a social determinant of health and that the health and safety of workers is also tied to their well-being, both within and outside of the workplace. Additionally he's interested in taking that TWH approach when looking at vulnerable populations of workers to protect their health, ensure their safety, and safeguard their wellbeing.

Allison E. Myers

Job Titles:
  • Director, Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation Interim Family and Community Health Program Leader
  • Interim Family and Community Health Program Leader
Allison Myers directs the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation. The center connects external organizations and Oregon State University faculty in the discovery of innovative solutions to pressing health and wellness issues, and builds workforce capacity in public health and human sciences. The center also leads projects related to integrating social needs care within the health care system, creating healthy neighborhoods and environments, promoting mental health and preventing substance use, and modernizing Oregon's local public health system. Dr. Allison Myers directs the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation housed at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences. Launched fully with Allison's arrival to Oregon in 2018, the Center connects external organizations and Oregon State University faculty in the discovery of innovative solutions to pressing health and wellness issues, and builds workforce capacity in public health and human sciences. Today, the Center leads projects related to integrating social needs care within the health care system, creating healthy neighborhoods and environments, promoting mental health and preventing substance use, and modernizing Oregon's local public health system. Prior to her work at Oregon State, in 2017-2018, Allison served as Health Policy Fellow to U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. From 2011-2017, Allison co-founded and led Counter Tools, a non-profit technology startup dedicated to advancing place-based public health through Citizen Science, data visualization, and policy advocacy. Early in her career (2005-2011) she led market research and strategy development for health and health care organizations at Innovation Management, LLC. Allison earned her BS in environmental resource management from The Pennsylvania State University, and her MPH and Ph.D. in health behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon from 2000-2002.

Amanda Armington

Job Titles:
  • Director of Assessment and Accreditation

Amanda Casian

Job Titles:
  • Outreach Coordinator
Affiliations Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children & Families Extension Family and Community Health Program

Amara Bradetich

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Research Assistant
Amara graduated from the University of North Texas with a Master's degree in Educational Psychology, specializing in Human Development and Learning, in 2018 and worked for two years with Early Childhood Intervention in Texas before beginning the PhD program in Human Development and Family Sciences at OSU. Her research interests center around child self-regulation and how the environment, specifically the prenatal and parental environments, affect a child's development of self-regulation. Specifically, she is interested in how maternal experiences during pregnancy affect child self-regulation in early childhood and how the parenting relationship and parenting skills used in early childhood impact children's regulation of emotions, behaviors, and cognitions. Amara is also interested in family policy and the translation of research in helping families better support their children's development. She looks forward to graduating from OSU with her PhD in 2024 and pursuing applied research positions in early childhood.

Ann Bloom

Job Titles:
  • Nutrition Education Program Assistant

Ashley Chan

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student ( URSA Scholar )
Ashley was a URSA Scholar studying Public Health with a concentration on Health Promotion and Behavior. She studied different facets of health, including human factors psychology and nursing. She enjoys relaxing in her free time by watercolor painting and hand-lettering, spending time outdoors, and cooking. Ashley joined the OEB lab in November 2016 through the Undergraduate Research Award Program.

Aya Bukres

Job Titles:
  • User Research Manager at Amplify Education

Barbara Brody

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor of Practice

Bradley J. Cardinal

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Brandi Borton

Job Titles:
  • Extension Family and Community Health Program / OSU Extension Service
  • SNAP - Ed, Education Program Assistant

Brian Primack

Job Titles:
  • Dean

Bridget Hatfield

Bridget is interested in teacher- and parent-child relationships in early childhood, children's stress and school readiness skills, quality of early childhood education, teacher professional development, & implications for policy.

Caitlyn Aitkins

Job Titles:
  • Office Manager

Candi Bothum

Job Titles:
  • 4 - H Program Coordinator

Carolyn Aldwin

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Carolyn Ashton

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor

Cate Petersen

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student ( URSA Scholar )
Cate Petersen worked as a URSA Scholar when she was a freshman majoring in Zoology. She is a member of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and serves as internal social chair for Kappa Delta at OSU. Her hobbies include rock climbing, yoga, and everything Disney. She looks forward to getting hands-on research experiences with Dr. Kim related to augmented and virtual reality data collection.

Cheryl Bond

Job Titles:
  • Business Manager

Chris Kohler

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student
Chris was a former undergraduate student researcher in OEB lab while he studied Kinesiology and Psychology. After completed his nursing program at Linfield College in Portland, OR, he currently works as a professional nurse.

Christopher Partipilo

Job Titles:
  • Management Analyst for Clackamas County Supportive Housing Services

Dan Bateman

Job Titles:
  • Training Manager

Dan Larson

Job Titles:
  • OSU Coronavirus Response Coordinator / Vice Provost for Student Affairs
  • Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Debi Rothermund

Job Titles:
  • Operations Manager, 541 737 - 3324, 7 - DEBI

Deborah H John

Job Titles:
  • Rural Populations and Places / Participatory Research / Community Mapping / Mixed Methods

Denise M. Hynes

Job Titles:
  • Quality, Access, and Cost of Healthcare / Care Coordination / Veterans Health / Health Data Science / Implementation Science

Derek Becker

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Western Carolina University

Diana Camacho-Figueroa

Job Titles:
  • Education Program Assistant

Emily Ho

Job Titles:
  • Nutrition and Cancer

Fred Lay

Job Titles:
  • Property Specialist

Grace Southworth

Job Titles:
  • Education Project Assistant
Grace Southworth is an Education Project Assistant and graduated from OSU with a degree in kinesiology. Her research interests include how preschool and kindergarten education settings contribute to children's development of self-regulatory and academic readiness skills. Specifically, she is interested in learning more about the barriers to academic achievement for families in disadvantaged areas and how self-regulation interventions can help preschool and kindergarten aged children in these settings.

Guadalupe Diaz

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / University of California

Hakim Ishak

Job Titles:
  • Master
Hakim was a master student in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He is passionate about engineering design that emphasize human interactions. He worked on computer-human interactions study. On top of that, he had four years in engineering project management mainly on pipeline pre-commissioning. He enjoyed video games and spent most of his leisure time with his cats.

Harold T. Bae

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
Harold's research is focused on statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology. His primary research goal is to understand the genetic architecture of human extreme longevity and sub-phenotypes of longevity and to develop advanced statistical... see full profile

Isabella Sciuto Ozenbaugh

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Research Assistant
Isabella's research focuses on the development of self-regulation in early childhood and early elementary school among children who live in under-resourced environments. Additionally, she has a special interest in examining how to support families as a whole and finding the most effective places to intervene in family and children's lives to boost self-regulation and the capacity for resilient development. Finally, she is also interested in understanding how family and child care policies shape development and how we can better support families and children through local, state, and federal policies.

James Wilson

Job Titles:
  • Baccalaureate Student
James graduated with two bachelor's degrees in Mechemincal Engineering (2017) and Computer Science (2019). His interest in biomechanics and occupational ergonomics come from an early liking for exercise and fitness. He worked on vibrational analysis tools and augmented reality applications in the OEB lab. James enjoys BBQ, swimming, reading, and installing free and open-source software in his free time.

Jasmine Karing

Job Titles:
  • Research Project Coordinator
Jasmine Karing is a Research Project Coordinator at Oregon State University. She received a master's degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii, specializing in Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health. As part of her graduate work, she focused on maternal health, health equity and social justice. Jasmine previously worked at the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence at the John A. Burns, School of Medicine as a Research & Evaluation Specialist coordinating the research, needs assessments, and data analysis of health focused interventions for high school and middle school children.

Jay Kim

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at OSU
Dr. Kim is an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at OSU. He received his MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and PhD in Ergonomics and Biomechanics from the University of Washington. Before joining the OSU's faculty in 2015, he was an assistant professor at the Northern Illinois University from 2013-2015 and a research scientist at the University of Washington from 2012-2013. His major research interests are occupational ergonomics and biomechanics. He is particularly interested in developing and evaluating evidence-based interventions to reduce physical exposures to reduce occupational injuries and illness and therefore improve workers' health and well-being.

Jeanne Brandt

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Jeff Bethel

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Health Impact of Climate Change / Disaster Preparedness / Infectious Diseases

Jennifer Beamer

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Assistant Professor

Jennifer Finders

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Purdue University

Jessica Dahlgren

Job Titles:
  • Data Analyst
  • Researcher

Jessica R. Gorman

Dr. Gorman leads a robust community-engaged research program that integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies to investigate multi-level factors contributing to healthcare experiences and quality of life outcomes, with a substantial... see full profile

Jonathan Garcia

Jonathan Garcia received his doctorate from Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and postdoctoral training at the Yale School of Public Health. He uses innovative and participatory methods to develop public health... see full profile

Jonathan Sisley

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student
Jonathan was a former undergraduate student researcher in OEB lab while pursuing a Kinesiology Major with an Option in Pre-Med. His goals for the future include attending medical school where he can appreciate a deeper understanding and knowledge of the human body. He is currently in the MD program at Oregon Health Science University in Portland, OR.

Joseph Catania

Joseph Catania has 35 years of research experience, primarily in the field of sexual health, but also in the fields of lifespan development, dissemination and implementation science, intervention development, and vaccine uptake. This work has... see full profile

Karen Hooker

Job Titles:
  • Mental Health / Navigating Life Transitions

Kate MacTavish

Job Titles:
  • Director of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity

Kathryn Stroppel

Job Titles:
  • Director

Kathy Gunter

Job Titles:
  • Promotion of Physical Activity / Obesity Prevention / Skeletal Health / Community - Based Research

Katie Ahern

Job Titles:
  • Senior Instructor

Kaycee Headley

Job Titles:
  • Executive Assistant

Kiana Kia

Kiana is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the OEB lab. She is interested in topics related to usability testing, occupational safety and human-computer interaction. She received her PhD in Industrial Engineering from OSU in 2022. She is currently working on projects related to whole body vibration, computer-human interactions and occupational safety of health care workers. She enjoys hiking, listening to music and sketching in her free time.

Laura Arreola

Job Titles:
  • Executive
  • Support Specialist

Lynette Black

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor

Marc T. Braverman

Job Titles:
  • Professor
Marc's research interests include adolescent health; health promotion theory and health interventions; smoking prevention and control; tobacco policy; program evaluation design and analysis; and design and delivery of community programs.

Marina Boyko

Job Titles:
  • Nutrition Education Program Assistant

Marit L. Bovbjerg

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

Mark Belson

Job Titles:
  • Instructor, ALI Challenge Course & Facilitation Coordinator

Marlys Cappaert

Job Titles:
  • FSF Instructor

Mary Arnold

Job Titles:
  • Adolescent Development / Youth Programs / Program Evaluation
  • Professor

Matthew Bozigar

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

Megan MacDonald

Job Titles:
  • Interim School Head

Megan McClelland

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Principal Investigator
  • Hallie E.Ford Center for Healthy Children & Families Endowed Director
Megan McClelland is the Hallie E.Ford Center for Healthy Children & Families Endowed Director and the Katherine E. Smith Professor of Healthy Children and Families in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University. Her research focuses on optimizing children's development, especially as it relates to children's self-regulation and school readiness including links between self-regulation and academic achievement from early childhood to adulthood, recent advances in measuring self-regulation, and intervention efforts to improve these skills in young children.

Megan Pratt

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Practice

Michel Wiman

Job Titles:
  • Research Project Coordinator
Michel is a Research Project Coordinator at Oregon State University. She completed her master's degree in Environmental Sciences from Montana State University, and brings two decades of research experience in ecological experimental design, data collection, results evaluation and communication. She enjoys supporting teachers in experiential early education settings, and coordinating partnerships and tools that promote early child development. She is interested in researching the intersection of child self-regulation and ecological immersion, and increasing equity and access to experiential and outdoor education in early learning settings.

Michelle Bump

Job Titles:
  • OSUDI Clinical Coordinator

Mina Salehi

Job Titles:
  • Student
Mina is currently a doctoral student of Environmental and Occupational Health at OSU. She received her MS in Occupational Health and Safety from the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2018. She also has five years of practical experience as an exposure science expert. Mina has measured and evaluated hazardous chemical and physical agents and ergonomics aspects in more than 250 different factories so far. She is particularly interested in taking the advantages of other sophisticated fields like Neural Networks and Artificial Intelligence in the field of Occupational Health and Ergonomics to solve current challenges in this field and improve the health and well-being of workers.

Molly Kile

Job Titles:
  • Risk Assessment / Community - Based Research / Children

Oregon Child

Job Titles:
  • the Kindergarten Readiness Research Program

Paige Braithwaite

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Research Assistant
Paige graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2021 with a B.A. in Human Development and Family Studies and worked as a research assistant at the UNC Brain and Early Experience (BEE) Lab during her senior year. Paige's research interests center around examining the factors that affect metacognition, self-regulation, and motivation in early childhood. More specifically, she is interested in examining the specific factors that shape the malleability of development in early childhood. Paige looks forward to applying her research interests as she begins working on her master's thesis at OSU in the Fall of 2022.

Peggy Dolcini

Job Titles:
  • Implementation Science

Qinghua Chen

Qinghua is a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and holds an M.Ed. in Early Childhood and Childhood Education, an M.A. in International Journalism, and a B.A. in English Language and Literature. Qinghua's research focuses on school readiness, cross-cultural studies in childhood education, and children's art and self-expression. Prior to her current career in academia, Qinghua has over 14 years working experiences in marketing and journalism, which leads to her strong interests in applied research and science communications to optimize children's development in multiple domains and support underserved populations.

Rachel Beyer

Job Titles:
  • Instructor, Physical Activity Course ( PAC ) and Faculty Staff Fitness

Rheannon "Rua" Blount

Affiliations Physical Activity Course Program (PAC) School of Biological and Population Health Sciences

Rich Ash

Job Titles:
  • Instructor, Physical Activity Course ( PAC ) Program

Rick Brand

Job Titles:
  • Instructor, Physical Activity Course ( PAC ) Program

Robert Duncan

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor, Purdue University

S. Marie Harvey

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Research
Marie is a public health researcher with 35 years of experience conducting research focused on the behavioral, contextual, and policy aspects of unintended pregnancy, sexual behavior, and abortion among diverse populations of young adults.... see full profile

Sabrina Kenny

Sabrina is a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a focus in early childhood learning and has a master's degree in occupational therapy. Sabrina's research focuses on school readiness, social-emotional learning, assessment, and meta-analysis. Prior to her current career in higher education, Sabrina has over 15 years working as an occupational therapist in early intervention and the New York City school system where she supported children with various needs and provided mentorship and professional development training for teachers, parents, and other occupational therapists. Sabrina pursued a PhD in education to deepen her knowledge of how children learn and develop and to promote evidence-based practice in fields supporting the learning and development of young children such as early childhood education and occupational therapy./p>

Sally Bowman

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Sara Schmitt

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor / University of Oregon

Shauna Tominey

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor of Practice & Parenting Education Specialist

Siew Sun Wong

Job Titles:
  • Interim Director

Steph Bernell

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Health Economics / Health Policy

Stephanie Grutzmacher

Job Titles:
  • Food Security
Stephanie's research aims to understand unique experiences of food insecurity among vulnerable populations in order to identify best practices for food safety net and nutrition education programs. She works with SNAP-Ed, extension, and... see full profile

Stephanie M Fitch

Job Titles:
  • Student
Stevie graduated with MPH in Environmental and Occupational Healthin June 2019. She was receipient of NIOSH-funded PTOP research grant to study whole body vibration exposures among the vehicle operators of Manicipal public works deparment. She is currently a health inspector at Town of Bourne Massachusetts. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest hiking trails and food scene. Stevie joined the OEB lab in April 2018.

Sunil Khanna

Job Titles:
  • Global Health
Sunil is internationally known for his research in the field of global health. He has worked on examining how inclusive, participatory, empowering, and sustainable strategies to engage communities in Botswana and India can lead to... see full profile

Suzi Busler

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor

Tammy Bray

Job Titles:
  • Nutrition and Diet
  • Professor and Dean Emeritus

Teresa L. Ashford

Job Titles:
  • Instructor
Affiliations Human Development and Family Sciences School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences

Tiffany Bailey

Job Titles:
  • Instructor, Physical Activity Course ( PAC ) Program

Todd Bastian

Job Titles:
  • Vice President Constituent Programs & Campaign Director

Tyler Bushnell

Job Titles:
  • PAC Individual & Team Sport Leader, CPR / AED & First Aid Program Coordinator

Urszula T. Iwaniec

Job Titles:
  • Energy Metabolism / Alcohol / Spaceflight / Osteommunology

Veronica Irvin

Dr. Irvin's experience spans more than 15 years and she uses a community-engaged approach to develop, implement and evaluate behavior change programs across a comprehensive list of health priorities (e.g., smoking, nutrition, physical activity... see full profile

Vicki Ebbeck

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Student Success
  • Physical Activity

Viktor E. Bovbjerg

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Virginia Bourdeau

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Xinfang Si, M.S.

Xinfang Si graduated in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University with a major in Prevention Science. Before that, she had earned an M.A. in Development Psychology in China. Her research goal is to optimize the development of children during early childhood. She is interested in promoting children's self-regulation (e.g., executive function) and school readiness (e.g., social-emotional competencies and academic outcomes). She is also interested in the combined impacts of individual characteristics and parent-child interactions on the development of children in a disadvantaged environment (e.g., socioeconomic status, divorce, neighborhood, etc.). Specifically, she is interested in the translation of research into intervention/prevention programs, as well as how to promote children's self-regulation and school readiness through them.

Yulaidi Ornelas

Job Titles:
  • Education Project Assistant
Yulaidi recently graduated from Oregon State University and earned her Bachelors in Human Development and Family Sciences with a focus in child development. She is interested in family dynamics and how it can affect a child's social skills. In general, Yulaidi dedicates her work in studying children's cognitive abilities and how different environments, circumstances, and genetics can influence their executive functioning.