Who We Are

Lyle J. (LJ) Fagnan, MD, Network Director and Investigator

Dr. Fagnan received his medical degree from the University of Oregon Medical School and following a rotating internship in Hartford, Connecticut, he joined the United States Public Health, Indian Health Service and practiced in Bethel, Alaska, for three years. He completed his family medicine residency training in Boise, Idaho, at the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency of Southwest Idaho. In 1977, LJ founded a medical clinic, Dunes Family Health Care, in Reedsport, Oregon, which was funded as one of thirteen model rural practices with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Rural Practice Project. He joined the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in 1993. In 2002, LJ became the director of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN). LJ maintains an active family medicine practice and was named as the "Family Doctor of the Year" by the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians in 2005. LJ's research portfolio includes studies and publications related to population-based health, dissemination and implementation of evidence-based medicine into practice, quality improvement, and rural health care systems.
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LeAnn Michaels, Network Manager

LeAnn joined ORPRN in 2008 as the Network Manager. She holds a Bachelor's degree in nutrition, and worked as the Clinical Research Manager of the Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative (CORI) at OHSU prior to coming to ORPRN. Previously she coordinated clinical trials and received certification as a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator with the ACRP. While working for CORI, LeAnn worked as the project manager for the Colonoscopy in Rural Oregon Practice (CROP) study, a joint project between CORI and ORPRN. As Network Manager, she works with researchers to complete grant proposals, assigns projects to ORPRN personnel and oversees Network operations. She grew up in the farming country of the Red River Valley of northern Minnesota and received her degree from North Dakota State University.
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Susan Aromaa, MS, Research Associate

Susan is a Research Associate with ORPRN. She is also the Community and Practice Research Program Manager for the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) at OHSU. She works with ORPRN and OCTRI to build partnerships with communities and encourage community-based participatory research. Susan has a master's degree in Applied Communications Research and Multimedia Development from Boston University. She has an interest in public health communications and worked for several years at the Boston University School of Public Health on drug and alcohol addiction issues. Susan is originally from rural Maine and enjoys horseback riding in her spare time.
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David Buckley, MD, MPH, Investigator

Dr. Buckley received his medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque in 1993 and did his residency in the school's Department of Family and Community Medicine. From 1996 to 1998 he served as an attending physician at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic in Keene, New Hampshire. In 1999 he joined Kaiser Permanente as an attending physician until 2001, when he joined the faculty of the Oregon Health & Science University as an Assistant Professor in Family Medicine. Dr. Buckley completed an NIH NRSA post-doctoral fellowship in primary care research, which included work on an MPH degree in epidemiology and biostatistics. He has been a research investigator with ORPRN since 2003 and serves as Vice Chairman of the Scientific Review Committee. Dr. Buckley is Co-PI of the ORPRN Preventive Services study in 2004 and is preparing to serve as PI on an ORPRN study examining the provision of preventive services to rural residents receiving chronic opioid therapy. He is also working with OHSU's Alzheimer's Research Center on a study of dementia screening in rural primary care practices.
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Jillian Currey, MPH, CCRP, Northeast Oregon Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator (PERC)

Jill has her MPH from the University of Pittsburgh and has experience in clinical and community-based research. Her previous research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center focused on the social behaviors of aging and cardiovascular functioning in women. Jill has also worked at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She received her BA in Sociology, Chemistry, and French from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Originally from Corpus Christi, TX, Jill is an avid traveler. Her office is located on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande.
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Sankirtana Danner, MFT, Research Associate

Sankirtana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s degree in Marital and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego. Prior to joining ORPRN, she worked in Seattle, Washington managing NIH funded research trials studying the dissemination of evidence based treatments to behavioral health clinicians. Sankirtana has a particular interest in the integration of mental and behavioral health treatment into primary care settings. In her role with ORPRN, she manages the execution of projects to ensure timely completion and standardized implementation. In her personal time, she volunteers with a community service organization to promote health care accessibility to rural and urban populations in southern India.
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Melinda Davis, PhD, CCRP, Research Scientist

Dr. Davis spent four years in La Grande, OR, as a Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator (PERC) for ORPRN prior to accepting a position in Portland following the completion of her PhD in Social-Developmental Psychology from the University of Vermont in May 2010. Melinda uses participatory research approaches and mixed method study designs to explore health service delivery in community and primary care settings. Her work focuses on rural populations; interventions to facilitate healthy/optimal aging across the lifespan, addressing topics such as childhood obesity, mental health care, unmet dental needs, and management strategies for multiple chronic conditions; and evaluating effective strategies for supporting practice change. Melinda grew up in the beautiful rural Columbia River Gorge (Stevenson, WA), and she enjoys rock climbing, mountain biking, trail running, and practicing yoga in her spare time.
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Molly DeSordi, Cascades East Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator (PERC)

Molly is a Practice Enhancement Research Assistant serving the Cascades East region. Molly works in tandem with Christine Toomey to serve this region. Molly is a Crook County High School graduate who will work to build a community of clinical practices and community resources in Central and Southern Oregon. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in both human physiology and psychology. While at U of O, she worked as a research assistant in the Social Cognition Laboratory, where she conducted research projects for dissertation research of doctoral students.
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Sonya Howk, MPA, Senior Research Assistant

Sonya is a senior research assistant with ORPRN. She coordinates study activities, creates study databases, organizes data collection, and supports the PERCs in their work with clinics. She has a Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from Portland State University. Sonya has worked at OHSU for 12 years - first, at the Oregon Office of Rural Health, as an Information Coordinator, and most recently as the Fellowship Program Coordinator for OHSU's Department of OB/Gyn.
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Paul McGinnis, MPA, Community Health, Quality, and Practice Development Director

Paul joined the ORPRN staff in 2005 as ORPRN's Community Health and Practice Development Director. In this capacity he provides technical assistance services to ORPRN practices, communities, organizations, and public bodies. Paul assists with design, development, and project management related to community-based participatory research and coordinates with the Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinators (PERCs) to support work in rural areas. He assists rural health care providers by disseminating information regarding policy development, regulations, reimbursement and other issues relevant to rural practice. Paul was previously the Director of Field Services at OHSU's Office of Rural Health, and has 28 years of experience providing services to rural communities throughout the nation. He is the creator of the Community Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP) community health development model which directly involves citizens in improving health status and health resources in rural areas, and has been used by hundreds of communities nationwide. In 2009, the National Rural Health Association awarded Paul the Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Contributions to Rural Health. Paul has a BS in Community Development from Penn State University and a Masters in Public Administration from Valdosta State University.
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Cynthia (Cindy) Morris, PhD, Research Director and Investigator

Dr. Morris serves as the Research Director for the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network since 2005. She is a Professor of Medicine at OHSU and Vice Chair of the OHSU Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology. She received a Master of Public Health degree in 1982, and a PhD. in epidemiology in 1985 from the University of Washington. Dr. Morris researches the etiology and epidemiology of congenital heart disease and the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease at OHSU. She helped guide the development of ORPRN and as Research Director, works to develop a systematic approach to our research program focusing on research design, methods, data management, analysis and publications.
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Mark Remiker, MA, Oregon Pacific Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator (PERC)

Mark started with ORPRN in October 2012. Before joining ORPRN, Mark worked as a research coordinator for the Wisconsin Research and Education Network (WREN), a PBRN based at University of Wisconsin-Madison. His past research experience focused on implementing evidence-based guidelines for chronic kidney disease in primary care settings and validating EHR selection criteria for asthma and diabetes. Mark holds a BA in psychology from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a MA in biological anthropology from Washington State University. He is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Nancy Rollins, CCRP, Research Associate

Nancy joined ORPRN in 2005 and serves as a research associate on ORPRN projects. Prior to joining ORPRN, Nancy worked in the OHSU Family Medicine Department as a development project coordinator, managing grant financials and organizing educational programs. She received her undergraduate degree from Florida State University.
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Stefan Shearer, Research Assistant

Stefan joined ORPRN as a research assistant in 2012. Prior to joining ORPRN, Stefan worked for over three years in the Family Medicine Residency Program at OHSU. He received his undergraduate degree from Lewis & Clark College and is working towards his Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from Portland State University. Stefan is a fifth-generation Oregonian who enjoys the great outdoors and traveling.
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Beth Sommers, MPH, Portland Metro Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator (PERC)

Beth is a Practice Enhancement & Research Coordinator serving the Portland-Metro area. She received her Masters of Public Health from Portland State University and her Bachelors of Science in Physical Anthropology from Oregon State University. Her previous experience with primary care transformation research includes development and evaluation of communication best practices of the Multnomah County Health Department’s patient-centered medical home model, Building Better Care, and evaluation of two OHSU primary care improvement demonstration projects centered around the care of patients with chronic health conditions.
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