Dr. Leslie Myatt, PhD, FRCOG, is the Bob and Charlee Moore Endowed Professor within the OHSU Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness. He is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine as well as the Director of Perinatal Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Myatt also serves as Director of the Placental Origins of Disease Group within the OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute's Center for Developmental Health. 

Dr. Myatt is a leading figure in perinatal research nationally and internationally, who has been continually funded by NIH since 1987. His current work studies sex differences in placental function in relation to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Dr. Myatt has previously led WRHR, BIRCWH and NIH-funded MSTP (MD/PhD) programs at the University of Cincinnati and he is one of few PhDs to be asked to chair a clinical department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has held national leadership positions as President of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation (SGI) and the Perinatal Research Society, and received the Naftolin Award for Mentorship from SGI. Dr. Myatt is Emeritus Editor of the journal Placenta and he has been President of the International Federation of Placenta Associations which brings together four regional societies involved in placental research worldwide. Currently he also serves as Principal Investigator of the Global Pregnancy Collaboration. He was made a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for his service in promoting Women’s Health Research. Dr. Myatt has mentored many basic and clinician scientists, many of whom now hold senior academic positions, and is further involved in career development activities for the Society of Reproductive Investigation and as a member of the selection committees of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program and the AAOGF/SMFM Fellows Program.

Dr. Quin Denfeld, PhD, RN, FAHA, FHFSA, is an Associate Professor in the OHSU School of Nursing with a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Denfeld’s program of research focuses on the biobehavioral mechanisms of symptoms and frailty among adults with heart failure, with a particular focus on women. Dr. Denfeld was a BIRCWH Scholar from 2017 to 2020. Through this program, she led a clinical research study that examined sex differences in physical frailty in heart failure; notably, one of the papers from this study was featured in the Emerging Investigators Series in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. She is currently funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research to lead a R01 study that focuses on the biological and physiological mechanisms of symptom clusters in heart failure. She also leads a Women’s Health Research Interest Group at the School of Nursing. Dr. Denfeld has been mentored, and continues to mentor new scholars, within an interdisciplinary team science framework, including those with expertise in nursing, cardiology, exercise science, neuroscience, physiology, and advanced quantitative methods. Lastly, she is involved in numerous professional organizations and serves as an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing and an Editorial Board member for the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

Leslie Garcia, MPA, EdD, serves as the Associate Dean in the School of Medicine. In her short time with the school, she co-developed the Diverse Student Mentorship Program; co-led development of the OHSU Inclusive Language Guide; co-led the SoM Diversity Affairs Committee with Chair Mo Daya, M.D., as the committee strategically planned and evaluated each department, distilling best practices; curated resources to support culture change and anti-racism; brought Stepping In training and the Search Advocates program as school pilots in partnership with CDI; recommended improvements to policies, practices and services in the M.D. and the graduate medical education programs, and co-leads quarterly DEI meetings with student interest groups, diversity navigators and associate deans.

In September 2022, she rallied partners and OHSU colleagues to deliver supplies and services to Latino families displaced by the Southern Oregon wildfires and is now active on the OHSU Vaccine Equity Committee.

In her long tenure with OHSU, Garcia helped lay the institutional foundation for diversity, equity and inclusion, developing and co-leading the implementation of OHSU’s first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan; the Diversity Advisory Committee and the Diversity Awards, among many other initiatives. She founded employee resource groups at OHSU and co-founded the successful Ted R. Lilley CURE and Equity Research internship programs. Leslie is a recipient of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, Inc.’s Diversity Leadership Award, as well as the recipient of the Individual Leadership Award from the National Association of Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education.  

Learn more about the School of Medicine Diversity, Equity & Inclusion