Melinda M. Davis, Ph.D., M.C.R. (she/her)

  • Professor of Family Medicine, School of Medicine
  • Professor, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
  • Director, Oregon Rural Practice Research Network
  • Director, Community & Collaboration Core, Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute

Biography

Melinda Davis, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and Director of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network and the OCTRI Community and Collaboration Core at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Davis is a participatory implementation scientist who collaborates with patient, community, and health system partners to adapt and implement interventions to improve health equity in rural and low resourced settings. Dr. Davis conducts her work in ORPRN, often in partnership with the Community Health Advocacy and Research Alliance (CHARA), Oregon's Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs), and other state and national partners. Dr. Davis leads a portfolio of research and technical assistance contracts funded by the National Cancer Institute, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Cancer Society, and National Institute of Minority Health & Health Disparities.

lease contact Dr. Davis directly to explore internships in her lab.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • M.A., 2006, University of Vermont
    • Ph.D., 2010, University of Vermont
    • M.C.R., 2018, Oregon Health & Science University
  • Fellowship

    • Fellow, Grant Generating Project, Department of Family Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University
    • Fellow, NIH Funded Mentored Training in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (MT-DIRC), Washington University in St. Louis
  • Certifications

    • Certificate, Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Summer Institute, University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University
    • Certificate, Human Investigation Program, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon

Memberships and associations:

  • Co-Lead, Community Health Advocacy & Research Alliance (CHARA)
  • Member, North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG)
  • Founding member, Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC)
  • Co-Chair, International Conference on Practice Facilitation (ICPF)

Areas of interest

  • Improving health and health care delivery in rural and low resourced populations through partnered implementation research
  • Mixed methods, practice-facilitation, clinic-community linkages

Honors and awards

  • Mid-Career Researcher Award, North American Primary Care Research Group, November 2021
  • OHSU Distinguished Faculty: Outstanding Teaching Finalist, School of Medicine, April 2018
  • Emerging Leader Award, Oregon Public Health Association, October 2016
  • George W. Albee Graduate Student Award in Community Psychology, University of Vermont Psychology Department, May 2009
  • Ronald Suiter Prize, University of Vermont College of Arts & Science, May 2009
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Whitman College, May 2002
  • Sigma Xi, Whitman College, May 2002
  • Sigma Xi, Whitman College, May 2002

Publications

Selected publications

  • 1.  Wheeler SB & Davis MM. “Taking the Bull by the Horns”: Four Principles to Align Public Health, Primary Care, and Community Efforts to Improve rural Cancer Control. Journal of Rural Health. 2017. doi:10.1111/jrh.12263.
  • 2.  Davis MM, Gunn R, Gowen K, Miller B, Green L, Cohen D. A Qualitative Study of Patient Experience of Integrated Care in Behavioral Health and Primary Care Settings: More Similar than Different. Translational Behavioral Medicine. In Press.
  • 3.  Pham R, Cross S, Fernandez B, Corson K, Dillon K, Yackley C, Davis MM [senior author]. “Finding the Right FIT”: A Community-led Mixed Methods Study of Rural, Low-Income Patient Preferences for Fecal Immunochemical Test Characteristics. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. September-October 2017; 30:632-644; doi:10.3122/jabfm.2017.05.170151
  • 4. Davis MM, Howk S, Spurlock M, McGinnis PB, Cohen DJ, Fagnan LJ. “Unless it gets used it won’t help solve the problem.” A Qualitative Study of Clinic and Community Member Perspectives on Implementation Toolkits. BMC Health Services Research. 2017 17(497). DOI 10.1186/s12913-017-2413-y
  • 5. Lindner S, Rowland R, Spurlock M, Dorn S, Davis MM [senior author]. "People with disabilities are the canaries in the mine…" The impact of the Affordable Care Act on People with Disabilities: Preliminary Evidence from Qualitative Interviews with Disability Advocates. Disability and Health. 2017 10(4); 1-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.04.003
  • 6. Davis M, Spurlock M, Ramsey K, Smith J, Beamer BA, Aromaa S, McGinnis PB. Milk Options Observation (MOO): A Mixed Methods Study of Chocolate Milk Removal on Beverage Consumption and Student/Staff Behaviors in a Rural Elementary School. Journal of School Nursing. 2017 34(4); 285-298. DOI: 10.1177/1059840517703744
  • 7. Warne D, Dulacki K, Spurlock M, Meath T, Davis MM, Wright B, McConnell KJ. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) among American Indians in South Dakota and Associations with Mental Health Conditions, Alcohol Use, and Smoking. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2017 July 12 [Epub ahead of print].
  • 8. Davis MM, Renfro S, Pham R, Hassmiller Lich K, Shannon J, Coronado GD, Wheeler SB. Geographic and Population-Level Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Testing: A Multilevel Analysis of Medicaid and Commercial Claims Data. Preventive Medicine. 2017; 101(8): 44–52. DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.05.001
  • 9. Balasubramanian BA, Cohen DJ, Jetelina KK, Dickinson LM, Davis MM, Gunn R, Gowen K, deGruy III FV, Miller BF, Green LA. Primary care and behavioral health integration in community practices. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. 2017; 30(2):130-139. DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2017.02.160234.
  • 10. Miller B, Ross K, Davis MM, Melek S, Kathol R, Gordon P. Payment Reform in the Patient- Centered Medical Home: Enabling and Sustaining Integrated Behavioral Health Care. American Psychologist. 2017; 72(1): 55-68. DOI: 10.1037/a0040448.

Publications

  • Co-created improvement goals and strategies for implementing SBIRT and MAUD in primary care settings in a facilitator-supported, tailored implementation study

    Translational behavioral medicine
    1. Erin S. Kenzie
    2. Tiff Weekley
    3. Chrystal Barnes
    4. Mellodie Seater
    5. Victoria Sánchez
    6. Brigit A. Hatch
    7. Jennifer Coury
    8. Melinda M. Davis
  • Adaptations to a patient navigation program for follow-up colonoscopy in rural primary care practices

    Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
    1. Jamie H. Thompson
    2. Jennifer S. Rivelli
    3. Jennifer L. Schneider
    4. Erin S. Kenzie
    5. Emily Myers
    6. Jennifer Coury
    7. Melinda Davis
    8. Priyanka Gautom
    9. Gloria D. Coronado
  • Effort Required and Lessons Learned From Recruiting Health Plans and Rural Primary Care Practices for a Cancer Screening Outreach Study

    Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
    1. Brittany Badicke
    2. Jennifer Coury
    3. Emily Myers
    4. Amanda F. Petrik
    5. Jean Hiebert Larson
    6. Sombuddha Bhadra
    7. Gloria D. Coronado
    8. Melinda M. Davis
  • Engaging with Rural Communities for Colorectal Cancer Screening Outreach Using Modified Boot Camp Translation

    Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
    1. Jennifer Coury
    2. Gloria D. Coronado
    3. Emily Myers
    4. Mary Patzel
    5. Jamie Thompson
    6. Courtney Whidden-Rivera
    7. Melinda M. Davis
  • Identifying virtual care modality in electronic health record data

    Learning Health Systems
    1. Annie E. Larson
    2. Kurt C. Stange
    3. John Heintzman
    4. Yui Nishiike
    5. Brenda M. McGrath
    6. Melinda M. Davis
    7. S. Marie Harvey
  • Improving screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment for unhealthy alcohol use in diverse, low-resourced primary care clinics

    BMC health services research
    1. Melinda M. Davis
    2. Jennifer Coury
    3. Victoria Sanchez
    4. Erin S. Kenzie
    5. Jean Hiebert Larson
    6. Chrystal Barnes
    7. James L. McCormack
    8. Robert Durr
    9. Tiffany Weekley
    10. Alissa Robbins
    11. Maya Singh
    12. Brigit A. Hatch
  • “It’s Like Finding Your Way Through the Labyrinth”

    Journal of general internal medicine
    1. Nithya Priya S. Ramalingam
    2. Chrystal Barnes
    3. Mary Patzel
    4. Erin S. Kenzie
    5. Sarah S. Ono
    6. Melinda M. Davis
  • Mapping mental models through an improved method for identifying causal structures in qualitative data

    Systems Research and Behavioral Science
    1. Erin S. Kenzie
    2. Wayne Wakeland
    3. Antonie Jetter
    4. Kristen Hassmiller Lich
    5. Mellodie Seater
    6. Melinda M. Davis
  • Methods for scaling up an outreach intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in rural areas

    Implementation Science Communications
    1. Jennifer Coury
    2. Gloria Coronado
    3. Jessica J. Currier
    4. Erin S. Kenzie
    5. Amanda F. Petrik
    6. Brittany Badicke
    7. Emily Myers
    8. Melinda M. Davis
  • Primary Care Providers Experiences Implementing Low-Dose Computed Tomography Recommendations for Lung Cancer Screening

    Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
    1. Sara E. Golden
    2. Jessica J. Currier
    3. Nithya Priya Ramalingam
    4. Mary Patzel
    5. Jackilen Shannon
    6. Melinda M. Davis
    7. Christopher G. Slatore
  • Protocol for an interview-based method for mapping mental models using causal-loop diagramming and realist interviewing

    Evaluation and Program Planning
    1. Erin S. Kenzie
    2. Wayne Wakeland
    3. Antonie Jetter
    4. Kristen Hassmiller Lich
    5. Mellodie Seater
    6. Rose Gunn
    7. Melinda M. Davis
  • Provision of colonoscopy in rural settings

    Journal of Rural Health
    1. Nithya Priya Ramalingam
    2. Jennifer Coury
    3. Chrystal Barnes
    4. Erin S. Kenzie
    5. Amanda F. Petrik
    6. Rajasekhara R. Mummadi
    7. Gloria Coronado
    8. Melinda M. Davis
  • Strengthening Public Health Preceptorship Through Project ECHO

    Pedagogy in Health Promotion
    1. Leah M. Brandis
    2. Tonya M. Johnson
    3. Maryan Carbuccia Abbott
    4. Betty T. Izumi
    5. Robin Baker
    6. Bradley Wipfli
    7. Melinda M. Davis
  • Tele-collaborative outreach to rural patients with chronic pain

    Pain Medicine (United States)
    1. Benjamin J. Morasco
    2. Natassja Pal
    3. Sarah S. Ono
    4. Sterling M. McPherson
    5. Frances L. Lynch
    6. John F. Dickerson
    7. Steven K. Dobscha
    8. Erin E. Krebs
    9. Una E. Makris
    10. Amanda S. Mixon
    11. Patricia Maloy
    12. Melinda M. Davis
    13. Travis I. Lovejoy
  • Video versus audio telehealth in safety net clinic patients

    Journal of Rural Health
    1. Annie E. Larson
    2. Kurt C. Stange
    3. John Heintzman
    4. Whitney E. Zahnd
    5. Melinda M. Davis
    6. S. Marie Harvey
  • Characteristics of patient navigation programs in the Cancer Moonshot ACCSIS colorectal cancer screening initiative

    Journal of the National Cancer Institute
    1. Gloria D. Coronado
    2. Renee M. Ferrari
    3. Autumn Barnes
    4. Sheila F. Castañeda
    5. Mark Cromo
    6. Melinda M. Davis
    7. Mark P. Doescher
    8. Kevin English
    9. Jenna Hatcher
    10. Karen E. Kim
    11. Sarah Kobrin
    12. David Liebovitz
    13. Shiraz I. Mishra
    14. Jesse N. Nodora
    15. Wynne E. Norton
    16. Jill M. Oliveri
    17. Daniel S. Reuland
    18. Sujha Subramanian
    19. Jamie H. Thompson
    20. Electra D. Paskett
  • Data Challenges in Identifying Patients Due for Colorectal Cancer Screening in Rural Clinics

    Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
    1. Amanda F. Petrik
    2. Jennifer Coury
    3. Jean Hiebert Larson
    4. Brittany Badicke
    5. Gloria D. Coronado
    6. Melinda M. Davis
  • Effectiveness and Cost of an Enhanced Mailed Fecal Test Outreach Colorectal Cancer Screening Program

    Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention
    1. Gloria D. Coronado
    2. Denis B. Nyongesa
    3. Anne L. Escaron
    4. Amanda F. Petrik
    5. Jamie H. Thompson
    6. Dave Smith
    7. Melinda M. Davis
    8. Jennifer L. Schneider
    9. Jennifer S. Rivelli
    10. Tanya Laguna
    11. Michael C. Leo
  • Engaging stakeholders in the use of an interactive simulation tool to support decision-making about the implementation of colorectal cancer screening interventions

    Cancer Causes and Control
    1. Meghan C. O’Leary
    2. Kristen Hassmiller Lich
    3. Maria E. Mayorga
    4. Karen Hicklin
    5. Melinda M. Davis
    6. Alison T. Brenner
    7. Daniel S. Reuland
    8. Sarah A. Birken
    9. Stephanie B. Wheeler
  • Financial navigation

    Journal of Cancer Survivorship
    1. Katherine A. Yeager
    2. Whitney E. Zahnd
    3. Jan M. Eberth
    4. Robin C. Vanderpool
    5. Catherine Rohweder
    6. Randall Teal
    7. Maihan Vu
    8. Lindsay Stradtman
    9. Elizabeth L. Frost
    10. Erika Trapl
    11. Sarah Koopman Gonzalez
    12. Thuy Vu
    13. Linda K. Ko
    14. Allison Cole
    15. Paige E. Farris
    16. Jackilen Shannon
    17. Natoshia Askelson
    18. Laura Seegmiller
    19. Arica White
    20. Jean Edward
    21. Melinda Davis
    22. Victoria Petermann
    23. Stephanie B. Wheeler
  • Impact of the COVID-19 vaccination mandate on the primary care workforce and differences between rural and urban settings to inform future policy decision-making

    PloS one
    1. Brigit A. Hatch
    2. Erin Kenzie
    3. Nithya Priya Ramalingam
    4. Eliana Sullivan
    5. Chrystal Barnes
    6. Nancy Elder
    7. Melinda M. Davis
  • Improving colorectal cancer screening in rural primary care

    Journal of Rural Health
    1. Melinda M. Davis
    2. Jen Coury
    3. Jean Hiebert Larson
    4. Rose Gunn
    5. Elke Geiger Towey
    6. Andrea Ketelhut
    7. Mary Patzel
    8. Katrina Ramsey
    9. Gloria D. Coronado
  • Jumping Through Hoops

    Journal of general internal medicine
    1. Mary Patzel
    2. Chrystal Barnes
    3. Nithya Priya Ramalingam
    4. Rose Gunn
    5. Erin S. Kenzie
    6. Sarah S. Ono
    7. Melinda M. Davis
  • Mail-Based Self-Sampling to Complete Colorectal Cancer Screening

    Preventing Chronic Disease
    1. Samir Gupta
    2. Autumn Barnes
    3. Alison T. Brenner
    4. Janis Campbell
    5. Melinda Davis
    6. Kevin English
    7. Sonja Hoover
    8. Karen Kim
    9. Sarah Kobrin
    10. Peter Lance
    11. Shiraz I. Mishra
    12. Jill M. Oliveri
    13. Daniel S. Reuland
    14. Sujha Subramanian
    15. Gloria D. Coronado
  • Patients’ Willingness to Accept Social Needs Navigation after In-Person versus Remote Screening

    Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
    1. Anna Louise Steeves-Reece
    2. Melinda Marie Davis
    3. Jean Hiebert Larson
    4. Zoe Major-McDowall
    5. Anne Elizabeth King
    6. Christina Nicolaidis
    7. Bruce Goldberg
    8. Dawn Michele Richardson
    9. Stephan Lindner