Mike Christopher, Boise State College of Health Sciences’ first full time associate dean of research, headed east – but only slightly – in mid-July, moving from Pacific University near Portland in time for fall semester. Football-loving family and friends could not be happier.
Christopher’s appointment signals the maturing of the college’s research function and its Office of Research, which Bob Wood, director of College of Health Sciences’ School of Allied Health Sciences, previously also helmed.
Christopher, a seasoned, friendly and accessible scholar and researcher, received his bachelor of arts in psychology from Loyola University Maryland and PhD in clinical psychology from The University of South Dakota. He completed a doctoral internship in clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Hospital; he has been a faculty member at Pacific University since 2006, establishing the university’s PhD program in clinical psychology in 2012.
Passion and enthusiasm for community-oriented research
He’ll bring to the College of Health Sciences Office of Research the passion and enthusiasm that have driven his considerable contribution to building out community-oriented research in Oregon. He founded and went on to direct Pacific University’s Mindful Health and Resilience Lab, with his students studying the impact of mindfulness and related contemplative practices in enhancing resilience and improving stress reactivity in high-risk and diverse groups. Among the direct beneficiaries have been first responders and law enforcement employees and agencies – and indirectly, their families, communities and all those with whom they come into contact.
He has been a principal investigator, co-investigator and consultant on multiple National Institutes of Health research grants and a sponsor for PhD student National Institutes of Health recognition, and a regular grant reviewer for National Institutes of Health institutes and centers, also editing and serving on editorial boards for several academic journals.
Settling in, catching up and doing initial assessments with team members are first orders for business for the new associate dean.
“I’m really excited just to learn in the early days, get to know the stakeholders,” Christopher said. “Bob is leaving me a wonderful legacy.”
And given the level of development signaled by the expansion of the role, it’s likely that he’ll focus on growing capacities and linking efforts, research initiatives and researchers across departments, schools and universities. Donors, alumni and other College of Health Sciences advocates are likely to be crucial partners.
Research takes a village
For him, sound research and solid outcomes take a village – and Boise State, and College of Health Sciences, are ideally situated to ride the collaborative wave.
“Science is a team sport,” he said. “It’s all about a team approach. I don’t think science is a solo endeavor. There’s just such a wealth of disciplines in the College of Health Sciences and the university.”
Inviting additional collaboration among Boise State schools and departments and working with a variety of colleges and universities across the country and beyond are exciting opportunities he envisions for faculty and students. In his earlier work, he and his team in Oregon had the chance to work with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the university’s renowned Center for Healthy Minds, and researchers with the University of New Mexico, University of Washington and Oregon Health and Science University, weaving expertise in neurology, neuroscience, nursing, exercise science and other disciplines into program and research design. These types of all-hands initiatives yield significant benefits in terms of community impacts, Christopher knows.
“There is this expanded ability to study outcomes and mechanisms,” he said. “That’s one of the things that I’m going to want to develop, multidisciplinary teams. It’s one of the really exciting things.”
The infectious energy of Bronco Nation
Also exciting? Boise State’s vibe. The energy was infectious as Christopher explored the role and the campus.
“It was one of the driving factors for me,” he said. “Everyone was genuinely excited to be here. There was this genuine sense of people being happy being here, and everyone was very proud to be a Bronco. It was just very affirming.”
Christopher is looking forward to connecting donors, alumni and other supporters to the work and the team, and sharing out the promise that College of Health Sciences-connected research holds, for Idaho and beyond. He also has in mind a workshop for faculty members interested in the grant-writing process; the position does not have a heavy courseload, but he can see all the value that including faculty members in early stages represents, for them and their careers and for the multidisciplinary research efforts that are critical to solving some of communities’ biggest challenges.
“I love teaching it. It’s very hands-on, and I’m excited to do that,” he said, noting that connecting researchers with grant money and with colleagues at other institutions working on such worthy work is a marker of forward momentum for him.
“I want to continue to foster these relationships,” Christopher said. “That, to me, is kind of my metric.”
The Christopher family – his wife, an engineering tech, and two teen sons – is looking forward to all the outdoor activity that Idaho and the Treasure Valley have to offer, he said. And no one in the Christoper orbit has been shy about asking after football tickets.
“We’ve already got some gear!” he reported. “We’re already wearing our gear proudly.”