Office of Research Team
A PART OF OFFICE OF RESEARCH PATIENT CARE SERVICES
The Office of Research Patient Care Services (ORPCS) is a department within Stanford Health Care Patient Care Services (PCS) that provides research support to nurses, interdisciplinary professionals, and clinical trials teams. ORPCS consists of an executive director leading a team of nurse and research scientists, business analysists, and administrative professionals who provide consultations on PCS research studies from start to finish.
Michelle Williams
PhD, RN
Executive Director & Research Scientist
Michelle Y. Williams, PhD, RN is the Executive Director of Research for Patient Care Services and Nursing at Stanford Health Care. Dr. Williams has over 30 years of executive, research and leadership experience as a chief nursing officer, director of maternal child health, direction of mental health and forensic psychiatry, director of nursing administration and operations, director of quality assurance performance improvement, director of nursing academic and grant-funded programs, regional senior health plan director, and national director of technology innovation and research, among others. Michelle earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in nursing from the Holy Names University, California, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin. Her doctoral dissertation was a secondary analysis of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Williams holds dual appointments at Stanford University School of Medicine as faculty and Executive Director of Nursing Research within the Department of Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health.
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Meet the research team
Michelle Williams
PhD, RN
Executive Director & Research Scientist
Michelle Y. Williams, PhD, RN is the Executive Director of Research for Patient Care Services and Nursing at Stanford Health Care. Dr. Williams has over 30 years of executive, research and leadership experience as a chief nursing officer, director of maternal child health, direction of mental health and forensic psychiatry, director of nursing administration and operations, director of quality assurance performance improvement, director of nursing academic and grant-funded programs, regional senior health plan director, and national director of technology innovation and research, among others. Michelle earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in nursing from the Holy Names University, California, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin. Her doctoral dissertation was a secondary analysis of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Williams holds dual appointments at Stanford University School of Medicine as faculty and Executive Director of Nursing Research within the Department of Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health.
Mary E. Lough
PhD, RN
Research Scientist
Dr. Mary E. Lough is a Nurse Scientist at Stanford Health Care in California. Mary has over 30 years of critical care nursing experience as a bedside nurse, educator, Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) and now as a research scientist. Mary obtained her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Manchester, England, and a masters and PhD from the University of California at San Francisco. She is a clinical professor in the Department of Physiological Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. She holds a dual appointment at both Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Lough has received many professional honors. IN 2016 she was recognized by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) as “Clinical Nurse Specialist of the Year” the organization’s highest honor. In 2019 she was in the inaugural cohort of NACNS fellows (FCNS). In 2019 she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). As a nurse scientist, Dr. Lough assists members of the healthcare team with their research studies. She also conducts her own research, with a focus on: 1. Family involvement in ICU rounds and 2. Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract infection (CAUTI).
Selected Publications since 2015:
- Lough M.E., Eller S., Mayer B.. Registered nurses' experiences with urinary catheter insertion: A qualitative focus group study. Applied Nursing Research. 2020; Epub ahead of print.
- Guelman L., Hsieh C., Pine K., Lough M.E. Optimizing Antibiotic Management for Acute Simple Cystitis in Women: An Evidence-Based Roadmap for the Primary Care Ambulatory Setting. Urology Nursing. 2019; 39(6):283–29.2
- Lough M.E., Shradar, E., Hsieh C., Hedlin, H. Contamination in Adult Midstream Clean-Catch Urine Cultures in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Emergency Nursing. 2019; 45(5):488-501.
- Pickham, D., Ballew, B., Ebong, K., Shinn, J., Lough M.E., Mayer, B. Evaluating optimal patient-turning procedures for reducing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (LS-HAPU): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2016; 17:190.
Maria Yefimova
PhD, RN
Research Scientist
Maria Yefimova PhD RN is a nurse scientist with ORPCS supporting ambulatory care nursing and patient care service professionals in their research and clinical inquiry. Her work is grounded in her interest in improving care for frail older patients through systematic change in care delivery. Dr. Yefimova obtained her BSN, MSN an PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her postdoctoral fellowship training followed in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles, where she was among the first nurses to receive health services research training alongside physicians in the legacy of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. She was the 2018-2019 Academy Health Delivery Science Fellow, gaining skills in implementation science and learning health systems at VA Palo Alto. She is affiliated with the division of Primary Care Population Health at Stanford School of Medicine and is a coinvestigator on multiple NIH-funded projects.
Selected Publications since 2015:
Woods, D.L. Yefimova, M. Kim, H., Phillips, L.R. (2016). “Detecting and Characterizing Patterns of Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia” In M. Magnusson, J.K. Burgoon & M. Casarrubea (Eds.), Discovering Hidden Temporal Patterns in Behavior and Interaction: T-pattern Detection and Analysis with THEMETM (pp. 125-142). New York: Springer.
Banerjee, T., Yefimova, M., Keller, J. M., Skubic, M., Woods, D. L., & Rantz, M. (2017). Exploratory analysis of older adults’ sedentary behavior in the primary living area using Kinect depth data. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, 9(2), 163-179.
Pickering, C., Yefimova, M., Maxwell, C., Puga, C., Sullivan, T. Daily Context for Abusive and Neglectful Behavior in Family Caregiving for Dementia. The Gerontologist.
Yefimova, M., Aslakson, R., Yang, L., Garcia, A., Boothroyd, D., Gale, R.C, Giannitrapani, K., Morris, A.M., Johanning, J.M., Shreve, S., Wachterman, M.W., Lorenz, K.A. (2020). Palliative Care and End of Life
Outcomes Following High Risk Surgery. JAMA Surgery, 155(2):138-146.
Gray, C., Yefimova, M., McCaa, M.D., Goebel, J., Shreve, S., Lorenz, K., Giannitrapani, K. (2020).
Developing Unique Insights from Narrative Responses to Bereaved Family Surveys. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Guzman-Clark, J.R., Yefimova, M., Farmer, M., Wakefield, B., Viernes, B., Lee, M., Hahn, T. (2020) Home telehealth Technologies for Heart Failure: An Examination of Adherence among Veterans. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 46(7):26-34.
Nicholas Berte
MSN, RN
Research Program Manager
Nicholas (Nick) Berte is a Research Program Manager specializing in clinical research operations & research integrity at Stanford Health Care in Stanford, California. Nicholas is committed to address the critical health challenges of today by facilitating data driven decision making and strives to expand our collective knowledge of health. Nicholas received his B.S.N. from Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. Nicholas finished his M.S.N. at Grand Canyon University with a focus on nursing leadership. Current professional interests include expanding awareness and health equality for LGBTQ+ patients and underserved populations. Nicholas currently resides in San Francisco, California.
Berte, N., Shluzas, L. A., Beigi, B., Albaniel, M., Angst, M. S., & Pickham, D. (2019). Design Thinking Pain Management: Tools to Improve Human-Centered Communication Between Patients and Providers. In Design Thinking Research (pp. 179-197). Springer, Cham.
Pickham, D., Berte, N., Pihulic, M., Valdez, A., Mayer, B., & Desai, M. (2018). Effect of a wearable patient sensor on care delivery for preventing pressure injuries in acutely ill adults: A pragmatic randomized clinical trial (LS-HAPI study). International journal of nursing studies, 80, 12-19.
Eleanor Abea Portacio
BS
Program Project Coordinator
Eleanor Portacio is a Program Project Coordinator with the Office of Research and Patient Care Services team at Stanford Health Care. With more than 16 years of professional experience in the health care industry, her expertise includes providing high level executive and project support, managing business operations and meeting compliance requirements. She has a passion for creating impactful change to outdated procedures and enjoys applying change management methodologies to analyzing and integrating multiple systems to improve organizational processes.
She was a presenter at the 2017 Stanford Medicine Radiology Improvement Summit, sharing the results of Improving the Onboarding Process in Radiology.
She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology, with an emphasis on Exercise Physiology from California State University, East Bay. More recently, Eleanor completed the Certificate Program for Project Management with UC Berkeley Extension and is an active Project Management Institute (PMI) member.
Debbie Hsieh
MS, MHA
Business Manager
Debbie Hsieh joined Stanford Health Care in September 2016 as Senior Financial Analyst, supporting the Center of Advanced Practice and the Office of Nursing Research. In this role, she has developed APP practice utilization & productivity reporting, administered APP business plans, supported budgeting process, assisted nursing researchers with data acquisition, analysis, and fund reimbursement for their projects. Most recently, Debbie has developed a new APP/Physician’s Tier-2 fund flow reimbursement model that was successfully accepted by Stanford Health Care and the School of Medicine. The new provider’s fund flow model will be implemented during this fiscal year.
Sana Younus
BS, PMP
Project Manager
Sana Younus is a Project Manager supporting the Office of Research and Patient Care Services departments on dynamic projects and endeavors to advance process improvement, provider experience at work, and program development. Sana joined Stanford Health Care in 2016, She is certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a Project Management Professional (PMP). She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis. She has a strong interest and passion in streamlining projects and finding the delicate balance between the art, science, and strategy behind successful project implementation.