Meet Our Predocs

Shervin Churchill, MPH

I have a background in anthropology and epidemiology and have worked as an epidemiologist in local government and hospital settings. The focus of my work and research has been pediatric health. Specifically, I have worked on issues related to children with special health care needs and developmental delay for the past 8 years at the Center for Children with Special Needs at Seattle Children’s Hospital. My goal is to prevent secondary conditions in this population of children and to improve their quality of life, and that of their families, through family-based interventions. In particular, I would like to study the sleep and activity patterns of children with Down syndrome and gain insight into the associations between these patterns and health and functional status. This information will help with the design of future interventions that maximize health in this population.

Christopher Imes, BSN

Christopher graduated from Case Western Reserve University with his BSN in 2000. After graduation, he spent seven years in the Army as a critical care nurse and nurse manager. He started his PhD in Nursing at The University of Washington in 2007. He is interested in if and how genetic information of cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be used to influence behavior change in young adults with a family history of CVD. Additionally, he is interested in the use of apolipoprotein B (APOB) as a biomarker for predicting CVD and would like to examine the prevalence of common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the APOB gene in young adults with a family history of CVD. Christopher enjoys traveling, the outdoors, and good beer, wine, and food.

Ellen Meyer, RN, MSN

I have had many diverse and unique opportunities from clinical nursing to global occupational health and ergonomics director roles with Digital Equipment Corp, Microsoft, Seagate Technology, and a start up ergonomics consulting firm.  My work took me around the world developing programs, managing and educating employee teams in Asia, Europe, and the US.

Some unique experiences include being a member of the medical support team for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY and managing health and safety of 250 employees participating in a 23 mile extreme team building event in New Zealand.  As a member of the preview team, we completed hiking, biking, kayaking, rappelling, and Tyrolean traverse to understand potential safety issues and design focused employee training to insure a safe event.

Membership on an interdisciplinary team that focused on understanding workplace accommodations and accessibility opportunities resulted in the creation of a video that educated employees and management about adapting work environments that supported employees to remain productive, whether returning to work after an injury or continuing to work with multiple challenges.

My area of interest is ergonomics and the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in the aging workforce to understand issues specific to the aging worker and the design of interventions that support continued health, productivity, and improved quality of working life.

Rebecca O’Connor, RN, BSN

Rebecca has worked in healthcare for more than 10 years, including 5 ½ years as a Registered Nurse. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Washington. During this time, her interest in medical ethics and global health flourished while studying abroad in South Africa. In 2003, Rebecca earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from New York University, where she was an Rudin, Hillman and Honors scholar.

Currently, Rebecca is a Research Nurse Coordinator for Seattle Children’s Hospital in the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Rebecca’s prior nursing experience includes work as a PICU, NICU and pediatric nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital and work in public health and home health in the Seattle area. She was also Executive Director for a 501c3 non-profit organization that she founded after assisting victims of the Asian tsunami in Sri Lanka. Her prior research experience includes work with pediatric and adult outpatients and pediatric inpatients at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The focus of Rebecca’s current research interest relates to global health and the genetic predisposition of immigrant populations to develop particular diseases upon relocation.

When not contemplating the scientific puzzles of our time, Rebecca enjoys skiing, hiking, gardening, and cooking with her lovely partner, friends and 2 (perfect) cats.