Allison Myers, Ph.D., MPH
Current Title: Associate Dean for Extension and Engagement Program Leader, Family and Community Health
Current Organization: Oregon State University
Expertise:
At time of Fellowship
Allison is the Associate Dean for Extension and Engagement within the College of Health (2022-present), and in that role also serves as program leader for Extension Family and Community Health (FCH) (2021-present).
As FCH program leader, Allison oversees statewide health extension programming including SNAP-Ed nutrition, physical activity and gardening; Coast to Forest behavioral health promotion; food systems, security and safety efforts; disaster preparedness interventions and more. During the Oregon 2023 legislative session, Allison partnered with a broad coalition towards the successful passage of Senate Bill 955, and implementation of the free and confidential crisis line for the agriculture and natural resource communities, AgriStress Helpline© for Oregon.
Allison began work at Oregon State University in Fall 2018 as the first full time director of the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation (OCHI) which 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. 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 PhD 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.
Fellow in 2017-2018
Associate Dean for Extension and Engagement Program Leader, Family and Community Health
Ph.D., MPH
State at beginning of Fellowship
Placement(s):
Array
Specialty/Discipline
Fellowship Year Biography
Incredible work since Fellowship
Allison Myers is the co-founder and executive director of Counter Tools, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to advancing place-based public health. Launched in 2012 as a start-up in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Counter Tools contributes data-collection and -visualization technology, training, and technical assistance to retail-focused tobacco prevention policy enactment in 18 states. The organization is developing and pilots place-based health promotion programs in the areas of alcohol, food, marijuana, and physical activity.
Prior to co-founding Counter Tools, Myers co-founded the website CounterTobacco.org in 2011. CounterTobacco.org offers comprehensive tools and resources for retail-focused tobacco control and prevention efforts. Myers has led research and practice activities to develop and evaluate evidence-based policy enactment, to measure relationships between retail tobacco and food outlet characteristics and health behaviors, and to explain the role of mass media messages in the policy change process. Myers spent six years as a market research and strategy consultant for health, health care, and consumer packaged goods clients and led projects ranging from the promotion of Quitline NC to young adults, to the branding of the N.C. Cancer Hospital at UNC Health Care.
Myers completed her undergraduate training at The Pennsylvania State University and spent two years as a trainer and community organizer with the Peace Corps in Gabon. She earned her MPH and PhD in health behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC, where she now serves as an adjunct assistant professor.(Updated 09/01/17)
Current Info:
Current Title: Co-Founder and Executive Director
Current Organization: Oregon State University
Expertise: