Biography
Dr. Allison Myers serves as Associate Dean for Extension Family and Community Health and directs the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation housed at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences. Extension Family and Community Health partners with families and communities to enhance health and wellness. We promote statewide and local changes that impact school lunchrooms and physical activity policies, child and elder care issues, and community vitality. We provide science-based programs at every stage of life. Our health-enhancing programs include physical activity, nutrition, parenting education, and food preservation and safety.
The OSU Center for Health Innovation (OCHI) connects external organizations and Oregon State University faculty in the discovery of innovative solutions to pressing health and wellness issues, and builds workforce capacity in public health and human sciences. Today, OCHI leads projects related to integrating social needs care within the health care system, creating healthy neighborhoods and environments, promoting mental health and preventing substance use, and modernizing Oregon’s local public health system.
Prior to her work at Oregon State, in 2017-2018, Allison served as Health Policy Fellow to U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. From 2011-2017, Allison co-founded and led Counter Tools, a non-profit technology startup dedicated to advancing place-based public health through Citizen Science, data visualization, and policy advocacy. Early in her career (2005-2011) she led market research and strategy development for health and health care organizations at Innovation Management, LLC.
Allison earned her BS in environmental resource management from The Pennsylvania State University, and her MPH and Ph.D. in health behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon from 2000-2002.
