Speaker Biographies - Wednesday

Sharon Denham, RN, DSN, Professor Emerita, Ohio University, School of Nursing, Project Director, Strengthening Communities to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Rural Appalachia
Dr. Denham has her doctorate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is Professor Emerita at Ohio University’s School of Nursing. She is Project Director at the Center for Appalachian Philanthropy for a CDC funded project called Strengthening Communities to Prevent Diabetes in Rural Appalachia. This $2.5 million 5 year grant aims at diabetes prevention. Through work with the CDC National Diabetes Education Program, she developed Diabetes: A Family Matter, a culturally sensitive program and toolkit focused on type 2 diabetes. She has numerous publications from her research about Appalachia. Her book entitled Family Health: A Framework for Nursing suggests an ecological lens for nurses to ‘think family’ in practice. She has had leadership roles in the Appalachian Studies Association, the National Council on Family Relations, served on Board of Directors or the National League for Nursing’s Accreditation Commission, and is president-elect for the International Family Nursing Association.

Michelle Odden, Ph.D., M.S., Oregon State University, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Corvallis, OR
Dr. Odden’s goals of research are to preserve health at older age, and to reduce disability, morbidity, and mortality in elderly adults. Her goal is to better characterize the processes of functional decline that accompany normal aging, and distinguish this from preventable disease. The majority of her research has focused on kidney disease, cardiovascular outcomes, and loss of physical function in older adults

Diana White, PhD, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Dr. White works on a variety of education and evaluation projects related to long-term care. These include Enriched Clinical Learning Environments through Partnerships (ECLEPs), funded by the Northwest Health Foundation to attract nursing students into long-term care careers, and Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate a work-based learning program targeting direct care workers in assisted living facilities

Carolyn Mendez- Luck, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and Health Management and Policy, Oregon State University
Dr. Mendez-Luck is Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and Health Management and Policy in the School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at OSU.  She completed her Ph.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining OSU, she was an adjunct assistant professor of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health, and a faculty associate with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Dr. Mendez-Luck teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in gerontology, including culture, aging, and health.

Judith Auslander, MA, Senior Outreach Specialist, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon
For the past three and half years, Ms. Auslander has worked for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon as a Senior Outreach Specialist. Her work in Washington County has helped to educate and increase participation in the SNAP program. The outreach efforts have been so successful that she is now working other counties including Multnomah and Clackamas. PowerPoint’s created by Ms. Auslander have been used by other organizations to help with their outreach efforts to seniors. Her educational background includes a Masters in Education from Pacific University and a second Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Certificate in Gerontology from Marylhurst University. Ms. Auslander also has her own business as a Life Coach.

Rob Winningham, PhD., Psychology Division Chair, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor, Psychology Division, Western Oregon University, Oregon
Dr. Robert Winningham,  is a professor of psychology at Western Oregon University. He is a leader in our Geriatric Wellness Center program. In addition, Dr. Winningham was the co-founder of “MemAerobics” – an approach to reverse and slow the effects of aging on cognition. For more than 11 years he has performed research and published articles on cognition and aging. He has been an invited speaker to over 17 conferences and symposiums in the past year on this topic. Dr. Winningham is very active in the local community, providing resources for geriatric health and wellness. As a leader in the classroom, clinic and in continuing education, Dr. Winningham has consistently proven his commitment to professional development and patient care. He is the Co-Director of our Geriatric Wellness Center at NWRA.

Tamina Toray, PhD., Professor in the Psychology Division at Western Oregon University and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Toray co-founded one of the nation’s first grief and loss clinics focusing on the human animal bond at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.  She earned her Ph.D. in Family Studies from Oregon State University, and her Master’s degree in Counseling from Trumann State University. She has been involved in the field of death, dying and bereavement for over two decades and has taught courses, been published in peer-reviewed articles, and has been asked to contribute to edited book chapters on end-of-life topics and pet loss. She has been asked to speak at national and international conferences on grief and loss she has been certified in Thanatology by the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). She served on ADEC’s National Test Committee which is responsible for creating the body of knowledge required for national exam standards. She serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Benton Hospice Services. Her Board duties have included Secretary, member of the Ethics Committee, Quality Assurance Committee and Chair of the Transitions Committee.

Cordann (Cordy) Anderson, RN, BSN, Nurse Manager for Intake at Sacred Heart Home Health, Eugene, OR
Cordy is a practitioner and teacher of Therapeutic Touch (TT) and Sound Healing Oregon. She has been a nurse for over thirty years in a variety of settings including public health, pediatrics, home health, and hospice. She has integrated Therapeutic Touch  into her nursing practice and teaches it to individuals and families.

Laura J. Aust, Ph.D., President of LJA Fiduciary Services, Inc., Tualatin, OR
Laura is a gerontologist who did her dissertation on relationships between elderly mothers and their caregiving daughters.  She has over 15 years of professional fiduciary experience and is a member of the Guardian/Conservator Association of Oregon, Inc. (GCA) and the National Guardianship Association (NGA).  Laura is also a board member and past-President of GCA and the current President of LJA Fiduciary Services.

Dana Evans, MSW, LCSW, ACHP-SW, Social Services Manager, Benton Hospice Service, Corvallis, OR
Ms. Evans is the Social Services Manager at Benton Hospice Service. She provides oversight and management for social work, spiritual care, bereavement, and volunteers at Benton Hospice Service. A social worker for over 14 years, her experience includes care in hospice, hospital, and group home environments, patient advocacy, and counseling.

Reenie Schwallie, RN, BSN, CHPN
Reenie Schwallie is a clinic manager at Benton Hospice Center.  She coordinates the care for all patients and manages RN assignments, call scheduling, training and hiring of nurses, quality assurance, and assuring daily operations supporting clinical care for a patient census up to 70 Hospice patients

Seunghae Lee, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Design & Human Environment, College of Business, Oregon State University.
Seunghae is an Associate Professor in the Department of Design and Human Environment, OSU.  Her research focuses on interior visualization, sustainable design, and indoor environmental quality. She received her Ph.D. in Facilities Design & Management at Michigan State University after a few years of practice and study in Interior Design.

Gail Hand, Motivational Humorist, Trainer, Author and Certified Laughter Leader with the World Laughter Tour and Laughter Yoga International.
Gail Hand has been working with Seniors in Oregon and a few other lucky states for the past 8 years.
With 4 of her dogs, she has visited over 150 senior communities and worked with seniors up to 106 years of age.  Her stories of hope, lifted spirits and laughter will bring you new ideas, a tear to your eye and a smile to your face.  You will never look at laughter the same again after you hear the difference laughter yoga has made with Gail's seniors.

Maureen C. Nash, M.D., M.S., Medical Director, Tuality Center for Geriatric Psychiatry; Board Certified in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine; Co-Chair, Clinical Practice Committee,  American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry; Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Sciences University.
Dr. Nash is a Geriatric psychiatrist who deals with the problems of mental and emotional disorders and diseases in the elderly. She is an expert in the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders of older people.