home | faculty Thomas Becker, MD, PhD Dr. Becker is a CDC-trained medical epidemiologist with interests in both infectious and chronic disease epidemiology, with focused interests in viral carcinogenesis as related to cancers in special populations. He has done a substantial amount of research and collaboration with Native populations in epidemiologic studies and has spent several years guiding education programs to increase Native researchers’ skills in designing and implementing chronic disease control projects. Dr. Becker has published extensively on American Indian and Hispanic health issues, and is currently funded to carry out etiologic studies of cervical neoplasia in American Indian and Alaska Native populations. In addition to his training in medicine and public health, Dr. Becker also has a PhD in Anthropology, and his research has been designed to combine his experience in all of these disciplines. As a Professor of Epidemiology at Oregon Health & Science University, he lectures in the School of Medicine, directs student research, and is responsible for epidemiological research training for the Master’s in Public Health. He is also the Director of Oregon’s Prevention Research Center, the Center for Healthy Communities. John Stull, MD, MPH Dr. Stull received his MD from the Washington University School of Medicine, his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed his public health training with a Preventive Medicine Residency at OHSU and a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Kaiser Center for Health Research. He is board certified in both Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine with twenty years of general pediatrics practice experience. Dr. Stull joined the faculty of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at OHSU in 2000 as an Assistant Professor. Over the past three years he has also been responsible for reorganizing and teaching the Epidemiology sequence in the School of Medicine for first-year medical students. His other teaching activities include organizing public health survey courses in general public health and maternal and child health, co-teaching Ethics in Epidemiology, and facilitating small group discussions in the Principles of Clincal Medicine course in the School of Medicine. Dr. Stull's interests are primarily related to medical and public health education. He is also interested in child health in general and children with special health needs in particular. Linda Burhansstipanov, DrPH Dr. Burhansstipanov is currently the Director of Native American Cancer Initiatives, Inc. of Pine, Colorado (1993 to present). She formerly (1989-1993) was the program director of Native American Cancer Research Program for the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. She has 18 years’ experience as faculty for California State University Long Beach and was promoted to "full professor" in 1988. She is actively involved with Native American health and wellness endeavors nationwide and serves on numerous national and local advisory boards and committees to promote research and programmatic efforts to assist Native people in obtaining higher levels of health. Examples of her primary areas of interest are culturally competent cancer prevention and control initiatives, HIV/AIDS prevention and control among Native peoples, and Native American women's health issues. She has authored several books and numerous articles, the majority of which focus on the health concerns of Native peoples. She was among ten individuals honored as a leader in the fight against breast cancer by Avon and the National Association of Breast Cancer Organizations. Sally M. Davis, PhD Dr. Davis is a tenured professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico where she is the Chief of the Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and the Director of the Prevention Research Center. Dr. Davis has more than 30 years’ experience conducting prevention research in partnership with American Indian and other under-represented populations, especially in rural communities. She has served as a consultant for various NW tribal projects. As a senior member of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine faculty, she leads the Pediatric Department’s Research Committee. She has been the Principal Investigator of numerous studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the prevention of obesity, tobacco use, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Jodi Lapidus, PhD Dr. Lapidus is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. She is also teaches as an Adjunct Faculty and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Portland State University. In addition to teaching courses on data management, statistical concepts, and various software packages to Native trainees in the Summer Researchers’ Training Institute, Dr. Lapidus has also provided biostatistical expertise for grant application and manuscripts written by Native affiliates in these programs. Dr. Lapidus works with the Principal Investigator in the Northwest Native American Center for Health (NARCH) program that is housed at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), and works with other investigators at the NPAIHB. She has served, and will continue to serve, as a mentor for trainees. William Lambert, PhD Dr. Lambert received his PhD from the University of California, Irvine. Before coming to Oregon Health & Science University, he held a number of positions at the University of New Mexico including: Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine; Principal Investigator, Epidemiology and Cancer Control Program, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center; and Research Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine. Dr. Lambert is currently a Scientist and Associate Professor at OHSU. His research utilizes instrumental monitoring, biological markers, survey research, and observational methods to quantify the frequency and magnitude of exposures in community and workplace settings. As part of an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Center for Research in Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET), Dr. Lambert assesses exposure to organophosphate pesticides in children of migrant farm workers. He is also working with the Yakima Nation Fisheries Program to evaluate health risks posed to tribal members who eat fish from the Columbia River system that are contaminated with PCBs, organochlorines, and metals. Dr. Lambert also works on the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) project, as well as on a study of environmental pollution and respiratory among the Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho. Al Marcus, PhD Dr. Marcus has been involved in cancer prevention and control research for over 20 years. During this time, Dr. Marcus has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous NCI-funded cancer control research projects, including several large randomized trials and program projects. As the Director of Public Health Research at the Denver AMC Cancer Research Center, Dr. Marcus has substantial experience in cancer control activities in minority populations. Jennie Joe, PhD, MPH Dr. Joe is the Director of the Native American Research and Training Center (NARTC) at the University of Arizona. She has broad experience in training programs, conference planning, project implementation, and study evaluation involving American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian peoples. As a Navajo researcher, Dr. Joe is also a charter member of the NCI’s Network for Cancer Control Research among American Indian/Alaska Native populations, and is very familiar with American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian researchers nationwide. Dr. Joe has served as a mentor for trainees in the past and plans to be available as a mentor in the future. Mark Dignan, PhD Dr. Dignan earned a PhD in public health education from the University of Tennessee and an MPH in biostatistics from UNC-Chapel School of Public Health. Before arriving at the University of Kentucky, he was a professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has substantial experience in community-based cancer control research and in research focusing on medical practices. Dr. Dignan is an expert in the program evaluation and has been involved in the CDC Prevention Research Center Network for many years. He is currently the Co-Principal Investigator and Director for the University of Kentucky Prevention Research Center. He has published numerous articles on cancer and cancer control among American Indians and other rural communities in the Southeast and has strong interests in tribal health. © 2005 Oregon Health & Science University. Last Updated 01/08. Contact Esther Dunn with website concerns.