Team

[team_member name=”Patricia Valverde, PhD, MPH” title=”Co-Director” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_patti.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Patricia Valverde is the program’s Co-Director. She is an Instructor in the Community and Behavioral Health Department of the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Valverde has extensive experience in research and program management in the areas of community outreach and patient navigation. Dr. Valverde is a leader in local, national, and international patient navigation efforts. Locally in Denver, she has managed the Denver Patient Navigator Research Program (PNRP) and been an instructor and curriculum developer for the Community College of Denver Community Health Worker Certificate program. As a national leader in patient navigation, she has been an instructor and curriculum developer for the National ACS/PNRP training program and provided training and consultation to patient navigator programs across the country. Internationally, Dr. Valverde has been invited to provide patient navigator training in Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paolo, Brazil. [/team_member]

[team_member name=”Jodi Drisko, MSPH” title=”Evaluator/Curriculum Developer” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_jodi.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Jodi Drisko, President of Parametrix Group, LLC is a consultant for the Program. She has extensive experience in curriculum design, instruction and evaluation for community health workers and patient navigators. Working with Dr. Whitley, Jodi co-developed the Community College of Denver Community Health Worker Training program and led the evaluation of the Denver Health Community Voices Outreach program. [/team_member]

[team_member name=”Andrea Dwyer, BS” title=”Outreach Coordinator/ Trainer” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_andrea1.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Andrea (Andi) Dwyer is a trainer for the Patient Navigator Training Collaborative and a student in Community and Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. Ms. Dwyer has extensive knowledge and background in colorectal cancer prevention and health promotion. She was instrumental in developing and implementing patient navigation efforts of the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program (CCSP), one of the largest screening and early detection navigation programs in the country.  Ms. Dwyer also serves as the Project Director for the Colorado Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network, the Chair of the Colorado Colorectal Task Force, Member of the National Colorectal Round Table and Board President of a local non-profit organization, Sense of Security.[/team_member]

[team_member name=”Yvonne Kellar-Guenther, PhD” title=”Program Evaluator/Trainer/Curriculum Developer” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_yvonne.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Dr. Yvonne Kellar-Guenther is an Associate Professor in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Denver and the Program Evaluator for the Patient Navigator Training Collaborative. Her research and focus areas include medical home communities, health literacy, patient navigation, interpersonal communication and relationship development. Dr. Kellar-Guenther also serves as a literacy and communication consultant for various groups and designs curriculum for researchers and patient navigators.[/team_member]

[team_member name=”Lisa O’Reilly, MA” title=”Instructional Designer” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_lisa.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Lisa O’Reilly is an instructional designer, course writer, and web developer and online learning researcher. She works with the University of Colorado Denver faculty and staff to develop and manage online courses and web-based tools. Her projects with the Patient Navigator Training Collaborative Project include creating eLearning courses, designing online courses, designing and developing web-based tools, and managing web-based communication and social media tools. [/team_member]

[team_member name=”Elizabeth Whitley, PhD, RN” title=”Founding Director” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_liz.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Elizabeth Whitley, PhD, RN is a Founding Director for the Patient Navigator Training Collaborative. She provided expertise and guidance for the program. As a curriculum designer, instructor and evaluator she has assumed a national role in patient navigator training for the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She is currently the Division Director of Preventive Health Services at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Dr. Whitley was previously the Director of Community Health Grants at Denver Health and was Co-Principal Investigator for the National Cancer Institute-funded Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP). She has extensive experience in research and collaborative community-based programs in the areas of community outreach, case management and patient navigation. The outreach models she has created are used throughout Colorado and the nation.[/team_member]

[team_member name=”Betsy Risendal, PhD” title=”Founding Director” photo=”https://patientnavigatortraining.org/wp-content/uploads/team_betsy.jpg” email=”” phone=”” twitter=”” facebook=”” google=””] Dr. Risendal currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health in the Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH), and a Full Member of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. Her research interests include the multi-disciplinary investigation of cancer outcomes and cancer prevention and control. This includes the study of psychosocial, behavioral, cultural, biological, and treatment-related factors and their impact on cancer outcomes, with a particular emphasis of their influence on health disparities in cancer. She is currently Principal Investigator on research grants funded by the Centers for Disease Control, American Cancer Society, and LIVESTRONG, in addition to the work with the Patient Navigator Training Program. [/team_member]