NW PCI Annual Conference 2021

Jay Evans, PhD

Dr. Evans is a Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Montana.  Prior to joining the University of Montana, Dr. Evans worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry for 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Vaccines (formerly Corixa Corporation) where he held various positions including Senior Scientist, Investigator and Project Leader.  While at GSK Vaccines, Dr. Evans worked on the discovery and development of novel vaccines, adjuvants and immunotherapeutics.  Dr. Evans completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital working HIV immunology, stem cell transplantation and lentiviral-based gene therapy systems. Dr. Evans holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Oregon State University and a B.S. in biology from Pacific Lutheran University.

Dr. Evans is also the President and CEO of Inimmune, a biotech company in Missoula, MT focused on the discovery and development of new immunomodulatory therapeutics for treatment of oncology, allergic diseases, upper respiratory tract infection and other diseases targeted through innate immune receptor activation or inhibition.

Jonathan Staben, MD

Dr. Jonathan Staben is a practicing physician at the MultiCare Rockwood Cheney Clinic in Cheney, WA, where he has a general medical practice including pediatrics, adult medicine, and multiple procedures. He is also responsible for teaching medical students as a Clinical Assistant Professor at both the University of Washington and Washington State University. In addition to his clinical and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Staben has multiple years of research experience and has been a Principal Investigator on numerous trials since 2007.

Dr. Staben has served in various leadership positions, including as President of the Inland Academy of Family Physicians and as a member and Vice President of the Board of Directors for the MultiCare Rockwood Clinic. He has served as Section Head at the MultiCare Rockwood Cheney Clinic since 2006 and is responsible for clinic budget, staffing, quality performance, and patient satisfaction for 10 physicians and physician assistants. His department achieved one of the highest performances of all departments in the Rockwood Clinic system for multiple years due to innovative care delivery, and also collaborated with an Eastern Washington University to provide student health services for over 13,000 students.

A class of 2000 graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Staben is a member of several professional societies, including the American Academy of Family Practice; Washington Academy of Family Practice; and Inland NW, Academy of Family Practice.

Jeannine Brant, PhD, APRN, AOCN, FAAN

Dr. Brant is an oncology clinical nurse specialist, pain consultant and a nurse scientist for the Billings Clinic in Montana. Dr. Brant’s repertoire blends her clinical expertise in pain and symptom management with her program of research that includes improving patient symptoms, and nursing sensitive indicators that lead to quality nursing and interdisciplinary care. Dr. Brant’s current studies focus on patient-reported outcomes, clinical algorithms for pain and symptom management, and testing a dynamic symptoms model. In addition, Dr. Brant has more than 100 contributions to the literature on cancer, palliative care, pain and symptom management, and other research topics. She is the editor for the Oncology Nursing Society Standards of Oncology Nursing Practice, the Oncology Nursing Society Core Curriculum in Oncology text book, and the Oncology Nurse Advisor. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Advanced Practitioners in Oncology. She was a guest editor for the 2018 October/November issue of the Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine, which featured two supplements on Palliative Care Nursing.

Dr. Brant is also an internationally recognized speaker and has lectured at more than 200 national and international seminars and symposia. She also serves as adjunct faculty for the University of Montana Geriatric Education Center and Montana College of Nursing in Bozeman. Dr. Brant earned a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Montana State University, a Masters of Science in Physiological Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco, a PhD in Cancer Nursing from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014.

Allison Lambert, MD, MHS

Dr. Lambert is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician, NIH-funded investigator, and clinical researcher within the Providence Medical Research Center. Dr. Lambert’s research focuses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, cystic fibrosis and other pulmonary disorders, including COVID-19.  She is the Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and co-leads the Therapeutic Development Network program. In these roles, she determines strategic direction, oversees daily operations and program evaluations, and conducts clinical trials.

Currently, Dr. Lambert is daily involved in both clinical care and clinical trialism related to the care of patients with COVID-19. She participates in daily meetings to determine clinical trial eligibility of COVID-19 admissions, serves on the scientific review committee for all incoming research proposals, and performs sub-investigator or principal investigator duties on all COVID-19 trials operating locally. She is dedicated to increasing access to clinical and translational research for rural and remote dwelling populations, and is acutely aware of the need for evidence-based approaches to reduce long-term morbidity among survivors of COVID-19 severe infection.

A graduate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY, and of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, Dr. Lambert serves on the Regional Executive Committee for the University of Washington Institute for Translational Health Sciences and is the incoming Co-Director of the Northwest Participant and Clinical Interactions Network in March 2022.