OGEC Staff

Mail Code SN-6S
3455 SW US Veterans Hospital Rd
Portland, OR 97239-2941
Phone: 503 494-3886
Fax: 503 494-4721
OGEC@ohsu.edu

Heather Young , PhD, GNP, FAAN, Director, Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Young is the Grace Phelps Distinguished Professor, the Director of the John A. Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence, and the Director of Rural Health Research Development at Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing. Dr. Young is an active mentor for doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows.

Dr. Young’s research and clinical interests focus on environments that promote healthy aging, with a particular focus on the interface between family and formal health care systems for older adults in transition. She has played an instrumental role in shaping long term care policies in Washington State through her evaluation research. In addition, she has been a co-investigator on several longitudinal studies of family caregiving, one of which explored long term care decision making and caregiving among Japanese American families. Her current research focuses on the medication management in rural assisted living settings, technological approaches to promoting medication safety in rural hospitals, and community-based strategies to promote health for rural older adults.

For over a decade, Dr. Young held a joint appointment on faculty at the University of Washington School of Nursing and as the Chief Operations Officer for a retirement community company and was responsible for an academic-corporate partnership managing and designing programs in independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing.

Margaret B. Neal, Ph.D., Co-Director, Portland State University

Dr. Neal is Director of the Institute on Aging and Professor of Community Health at Portland State University. She teaches graduate courses in research methods and gerontology and leads a service-learning program to Nicaragua. Her research has focused on the challenges and opportunities of managing both paid employment and informal care to elders and how the public and private sectors can facilitate work-family integration. She recently completed a book with colleague Dr. Leslie Hammer (Working Couples Caring for Children and Aging Parents, Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007), and she has written several other articles, book chapters, and books (e.g., Balancing Work and Caregiving for Children, Adults, and Elders, Sage, 1993; Work and Caring for the Elderly: International Perspectives, edited with Viola Lechner, Taylor & Francis, 1999) on this and related topics. Her other research and teaching interests include issues surrounding age-friendly cities, Hispanic elders, global aging, transportation options for older adults, older workers and retirement, and health promotion strategies.

Sally Bowman, Ph.D., Senior Associate Director, Oregon State University

Dr. Bowman is a family development specialist for the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service. She supervises the on going project activities at OSU, and is involved in curriculum development and workshop delivery. Dr Bowman also continues to pursue the development of new partnerships for the design and delivery of geriatric education.

Melissa Bosworth, Program Manager, Oregon Health & Science University

Melissa holds a Master’s of Public Administration: Health Administration degree and Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from Portland State University.

Melissa has nearly two decades of experience in the design, funding, and management of programs benefitting medically underserved populations.

Melissa is responsible for the coordination of grant activities related to the OGEC, including the organization and implementation of the annual Summer Institute, community coordination and marketing of the Center’s continuing education workshops and training events across the state of Oregon.

Elizabeth Eckstron, MD, MPH, Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Education Coordinator, Oregon Health & Science University

Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, MPH, is a geriatrician who specializes in promoting an active lifestyle in older adults and issues relevant to healthy aging in women. She is Director of Geriatrics at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon, Section Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, and Associate Professor of Medicine. Her research has focused on teaching residents how to counsel elderly patients in physical activity, doctor-patient communication, and tai chi for falls prevention in older people. She also studies the effectiveness of training primary care faculty in geriatrics, and speaks regionally and nationally on strategies to optimally care for older patients in primary care practice. Personal interests include travel, windsurfing, telemark skiing, gardening, and reading.

Bob Johnson, DMD, Dental Education Coordinator, Oregon Health & Science University

Robert Johnson, DMD, graduated from the OHSU School of Dentistry in 1977. Initially, he engaged in the private practice of dentistry. In 1991 he began the transition to community health dentistry, becoming a clinician at OHSU's Russell Street Dental Clinic. His work expanded to include administrative and educational duties, and he became the head of the behavioral science coursework at the School of Dentistry. In 2006 he assumed the responsibiliies of the Chair of the Department of Community Dentistry. He is a member of the Oregon Health Advisory Board and Vice-Chair of the Oregon Oral Health Coalition. He is an active member of multiple professional organizations, as well as being involved with community social service organizations. He is now 'semi-retired', which means he leaves work a bit early once in a while.

Sumathi Devarajan, M.D., Family Medicine Education Coordinator, Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Devarajan develops and oversees the implementation of the Family Medicine Residency geriatric curriculum enhancements and lead the evaluations of these endeavors.

Jost Lottes, PhD, Evaluation Specialist, Portland State University

Dr. Lottes is the Evaluation Specialist for the OGEC Consortium. He also directs the Senior Adult Learning Center, Portland State University's lifelong learning program, which is administered by the Institute on Aging. He holds a Ph.D. in Gerontology from PSU's School of Urban Studies and Planning, as well as an M.B.A from PSU's School of Business Administration. His research interests include employment of older adults, informal caregiving (with an emphasis on balancing caregiving and work), econometrics, and work and family. His dissertation focused on valuation methods for informal elder care, and the positive aspects of caregiving. Dr. Lottes teaches classes in social gerontology, economics of aging, and organizational theory.