Faculty Spotlight: Anna Tresidder, PhD

Anna Tresidder, PhD, is an Interim Program Director and Assistant Professor Public Health. She received her PhD and MPH, with a focus in health administration and policy, from Portland State and her BS in biology from Pacific University.

Her public health career started when she was in the Peace Corps. She worked in the German embassy in Zimbabwe, and afterward she continued to work for the embassy on HIV program planning, implantation, and evaluation.

After her MPH, she taught at Portland State and Oregon Health & Science University as an adjunct, while doing research at Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center. She also freelanced as a research and evaluation consultant, during which she worked with many nonprofits, social service agencies, and advocacy organizations.

While earning her doctorate, she specialized in researching the institutional pressures that cause inefficient teamwork in our healthcare systems. She focused on interdisciplinary teams of Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and Medicaid policy. Upon attaining PhD and before coming to Eastern, she taught as a visiting professor at Pacific University.

Having worked with organizations and professionals in many disciplines, she brings a unique perspective to MPH program, particularly in policy, law, economics, and research methods. She teaches two or three graduate classes per semester, as well as one class per semester for the dental hygiene department. She also guest lectures on her passion of law and policy for many of the other departments in the College of Health Sciences.

Her latest research grant comes from the Empire Health Foundation. The research will investigate providing family-oriented addiction and recovery treatment. She currently researches for the foundation’s Rural Aging Initiative and collaborates with Eastern’s occupational health program, working with Excelsior Youth Services. She also serves on the board of directors for the Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels, advising for advocacy and policy. She similarly advises for Providence Health Group. She is active in the Riverpoint Inter-Professional Education and Research (RIPER) program and works with MPH student groups, recently starting an IHI Open School. She started the research program for undergraduates and will have five students presenting at the National Council on Undergraduate Research Conference.