ORPRN director Nancy Elder to retire

ORPRN begins search for new director

Nancy Elder, MD, MSPH, is stepping down from her role as ORPRN director. Dr. Elder joined ORPRN in 2018, taking the reins from ORPRN’s founder, LJ Fagnan, MD, with a goal of transitioning the organization to its next leader. 

Under her leadership, ORPRN has undergone tremendous growth and transformation. When Dr. Elder joined ORPRN, there were 27 staff members; due to success in grants and contract work, that number has grown to 52, along with a dozen student workers and AmeriCorp VISTA volunteers.

Aside from explosive growth, Dr. Elder has led ORPRN through the historic shifts brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and a racial and social awakening that prompted a continuing reexamination of our core values and processes. Along the way, she strengthened ORPRN’s relationships within OHSU and the community, mentored staff and faculty, and made sure that ORPRN continued to live up to its mission of improving health outcomes and equity for all Oregonians.

In conjunction with this announcement, ORPRN has begun the search for a new director. The ORPRN director will be a physician or doctoral level researcher and will oversee ORPRN’s broad variety of clinical and health services research, quality improvement projects, practice transformation, and education efforts around the state and lead the strategic planning for the coming years at ORPRN.

If you are interested in the position — or know someone who might be — please visit the ORPRN website or contact us at orprn@ohsu.edu. View the full position listing and apply directly on the OHSU Jobs site.