Oregon Public Health Division's Leadership Team
PHD Organizational Chart
Public Health Director
Rachael Banks, MPA is the Director of OHA's Public Health Division. Prior to this role, she served as the Public Health Director for Multnomah County Health Department, the largest local public health division in the state of Oregon. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Gonzaga University and her Masters of Public Administration from Portland State University.
During her past 20 years in public health, she has led the Multnomah County Health Department's Healthy Birth Initiative (HBI), Healthy Families and REACH programs. She managed the tobacco policy program while it implemented Oregon's smokefree workplace law to over 80,000 businesses. She has worked to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, hepatitis C and drug overdoses, and provided injury prevention education to families in populations unfairly impacted by health inequities.
Advocating for health equity has been central to Ms. Banks' career. She helped develop Multnomah County's first disparity-focused Community Health Improvement Plan and led a unit that enacted culturally specific strategies in the African American/Black, Latinx/Hispanic, Native American/American Indian, Pacific Islander and immigrant/refugee communities.
Deputy Public Health Director
Cara Biddlecom, MPH is the Deputy Public Health Director for the Public Health Division. In her role, Cara supports the division’s legislative policy development, administrative rulemaking, partnerships with local and tribal public health authorities, and the implementation of division-wide initiatives, including health equity, public health modernization and the State Health Improvement Plan.
Cara’s prior public health experience includes work in chronic disease prevention, health system transformation, adolescent health and HIV/STI prevention for injection drug users and justice-involved women. Cara holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
State Health Officer and State Epidemiologist
Dean Sidelinger, MD, MSEd, FAAP is the Health Officer and State Epidemiologist for the Oregon Public Health Division. In this role, he supports public health practice, programs and staff.
Prior to joining the Oregon Health Authority, Dr. Sidelinger served as the Child Health Medical Officer and Interim Deputy Public Health Officer for the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). In this role, he helped provide strategic direction for HHSA programs that impacted children and public health through the County’s vision, Live Well San Diego, to help all County residents be healthy, be safe and thrive. He worked across programs in behavioral health, child welfare, early childhood, eligibility operations and public health. In addition, Dr. Sidelinger worked with multiple partners in the community from the education, health and social service sectors.
Dr. Sidelinger obtained his undergraduate degree in chemistry and medical degree from Georgetown University. He completed his pediatric internship and residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and a fellowship in Community Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He also has a Master’s in Education from the University of Southern California.
Director of Finance
Nadia Davidson, MPH, MS in Finance is the Director of Finance for the Oregon Public Health Division. This unit is responsible for the oversight of fiscal operations across the Division, including development and execution of the Division budget, contract oversight, and administrative and human resource support.
Prior to her role in Oregon, Nadia served as the Director of Administration in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention. Over the course of her career at the NYC DOH, she was responsible for fiscal support for programs and initiatives for health equity, childhood and adult lead poisoning, city-wide gun violence prevention, environmental hazards, chronic disease, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. Her prior experience includes identifying and securing increased funding and additional resources to support access to healthcare services in historically disinvested areas throughout NYC.
Nadia holds a Master of Public Health degree from Tufts University and a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Rochester, Simon Business School.
Operations Director
Kirsten Aird, MPH is the Operations Director for the Oregon Public Health Division. In her role, Kirsten is responsible for division operations and supports the development and implementation of operational priorities consistent with Healthier Together Oregon, the state's Health Improvement Plan and Public Health Modernization.
Kirsten's prior public health experience includes work in health policy, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, and health system transformation. Kirsten holds a Master in Public Health degree from Emory University - Rollins School of Public Health.
Administrator, Center for Health Protection
André Ourso, MPH, JD
is the Administrator for the Center for Health Protection. As Center Administrator, André oversees crucial programs that leverage public health’s licensing and regulatory tools to protect the health of all Oregonians. Before taking the position of Administrator, André managed the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) where he oversaw implementation of significant portions of Oregon’s regulatory scheme for marijuana legalization.
Prior to his arrival in Oregon in November 2015, André served as executive director of the Florida Board of Medicine. He also has served as an assistant general counsel supervising a team of attorneys and as a biological scientist and government operations consultant for the Florida Department of Health. He has a law degree and master of public health degree (epidemiology).
Administrator, Center for Prevention and Health Promotion
Timothy Noe, PhD, is the Administrator for the Center for Prevention and Health Promotion. Dr. Noe received his PhD in Public Affairs (Public Policy and Management with a strong emphasis in organizational development and design) from the University of Colorado Denver. His work has focused on social determinants of health, organizational management and interventions to reduce health disparities.
Dr. Noe has worked in the social research field for 20 years, most recently at the University of Colorado Denver’s (UCD) Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health. He was also the director of the CDC-funded Center of Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities and REACH National Network, which were comprehensive diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk reduction programs with urban American Indian clinics across the nation.
Administrator, Center for Public Health Practice
Collette Young, PhD is the Administrator of the Center for Public Health Practice. In that role, she provides oversight for state programs in Immunizations, Communicable Diseases, Vital Records, Emergency Preparedness as well as the Oregon State Public Health laboratory.
From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Young was a manager in the Acute and Communicable Disease Prevention and Immunizations sections.