Meet the CO-MTN Team
Sarah Jolley, MD, MSc
Dr. Jolley is one of the prinicipal investigators of the CO-MTN study. She is also an Associate Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She received her medical degree at Louisiana State University prior to completing her Internal Medicine Residency, Chief Residency and Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Washington. While at the University of Washington, she obtained a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and subsequently a Master’s degree in Clinical Research Methods from Tulane University. Dr. Jolley serves as Director of the ICU Recovery and Long COVID clinic at Anschutz Medical Center. Her research evaluates various aspects of post-ICU recovery with particular interest in physical functional recovery, biomarkers of neuromuscular injury and the impact of alcohol misuse on neuromuscular function.
Donald Nease, MD
Dr. Nease is one of the principal investigators of the CO-MTN Study. He is also a Professor of Family Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degree and medical school at the University of Kansas, residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Dr. Nease’s passion is to improve health in partnership with communities, patients, clinicians and healthcare. He works this territory from the level of individual interactions to community and population-based interventions.
Jodi Holtrop, PhD, MCHES
Dr. Jodi Summers Holtrop is the Evaluation Lead for the CO-MTN study, the Co-Director of the Dissemination and Implementation Science Program of ACCORDS, and Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, USA. She is an implementation scientist whose work focuses on study designs and methods, particularly qualitative and mixed methods. As a master certified health education specialist with 26 years in Family Medicine, her research centers on improving health promotion and preventive care in primary care. She has led research in smoking cessation, chronic disease management, diabetes prevention and treatment, and obesity treatment in primary care.
Elena Broaddus, PhD, MSPH
Dr. Broaddus is the evaluation co-lead for the CO-MTN study. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and a methodologist in the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core at the Adult & Child Center for Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS). She completed her MSPH and PhD at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and trained in Dissemination & Implementation Science (D&I) via a 3-year primary care research fellowship at ACCORDS.
Isabella Nowakowski, MPH
Isabella Nowakowski is a Research Services Professional within the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for both Colorado Pulmonary-Alcohol Research Collaborative (CoPARC) and the Novel Statewide Response to Post-COVID Care Delivery studies (CO-MTN). For CoPARC, she is responsible for IRB submissions, researcher outreach, website content creation, management, and marketing, biorepository organization, inventory management, patient enrollment, and assisting with the processing of clinical specimens. For the Novel Statewide study, she is responsible for IRB submissions, project management and coordination, patient enrollment , and website content creation,management, and marketing. She has created and managed the content of three University based websites: CoPARC, CO-MTN, and C3RG. She graduated from the Colorado School of Public Health located on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus with a Masters of Public Health in Health Systems, Management, and Policy.
Kristen Curcija, MPH
Kristen Curcija is a Research Services Senior Professional at the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine and has been with the department for 9 years. Kristen helps to manage the Primary Care Clinic (PCC) side of the Long COVID study and is part of the qualitative research team. Her work focuses on practice-based and public health research, particularly in rural regions across the state. Her research experience and interests include diabetes, loneliness, drug and alcohol screening, treatment for opioid use disorder, Long COVID, and improving mental health in rural communities. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from Benedictine University and a Bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Kansas State University.
Ben Sofie, MSW
Ben Sofie is a Research Services Senior Professional with the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine. Ben works as a lead project manager for the HOMER study, managing research activities among academic, community, and primary care partners across the country. With a background in nonprofit and social work, Ben enjoys working with community partners to develop, implement, and evaluate research projects.
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Elizabeth Bell
Elizabeth Bell serves as a Practice Facilitator on the CO-MTN project, providing support and connecting primary care practices with the study team. She a Research Services Professional within the Partners Engaged in Achieving Change in Health (PEACHnet) practice-based research network of the CU Department of Family Medicine. Liz engages in diverse research and partnerships focusing on improving physical, mental, and social health for all and is an MPH candidate at the Colorado School of Public Health with a concentration in Population Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Marissa Morales, BS
Marissa Morales holds a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health in Leadership and Public Health Practice at the Colorado School of Public Health. She serves as a Health Navigator and Coordinator at the Long COVID Clinic at UCHealth Anschutz and supports the CO-MTN study. In this role, she leads efforts in social determinants of health (SDoH) screenings, resource navigation, and clinical process improvement to enhance care delivery for Long COVID patients. Marissa also contributes to patient and provider education by developing tailored materials to support understanding and engagement. Her background includes several years in direct patient care within Cardiology, with experience in patient education, cardiac device support, and clinical leadership. She is passionate about advancing health equity and improving access to care through patient-centered approaches and public health systems innovation.
Jeffrey McKeehan, RN, MSN
Mr. McKeehan manages regulatory and compliance for the CO-MTN study, and serves as a liaison between the PIs and the institutional review board.
Dave Saxon, MD
Dave is the medical director of The Care Collaborative and an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. Prior to joining The Care Collaborative he was Endocrine Section Chief at the Rocky Mountain VAMC. Dave is a general endocrinologist with specific clinical and academic interests in diabetes, obesity and lipid disorders. He joined The Care Collaborative because he is passionate about exploring innovative forms of health care delivery. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor in anthropology, he received his MD from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. He did his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and completed a fellowship in endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at the University of Colorado. Dave completed a VA Advanced Health Services Research Fellowship and has published book chapters and journal articles on a variety of endocrine topics. Outside of work he enjoys live music, drinking lots of coffee, and hiking and skiing with his wife and three children.
John F. "Fred" Thomas, PhD, MSSW
Fred is the executive director of The Care Collaborative and a professor in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. With a career spanning over 20 years as a system of care designer, ehealth innovator, health outcomes researcher and health care/health policy educator, his journey is underscored by a relentless pursuit of innovation, clinical education and outcomes-oriented research. He is currently the executive director of The Care Collaborative, where his focus is on inspiring a wide array of clinical providers to adapt their practice models to include peer mentored approaches to care and clinical education. As Fred has spent his career on improving the health care system, he has a deep commitment to advancing a spectrum approach to telehealth-care delivery, assuring the right sizing of care with a focus on improving the quadruple aim. Educating and nurturing the next generation of healthcare providers has been a cornerstone of his career. His dedication to these efforts has led to dozens of peer-reviewed publications and over $80 million in funding from local, state and federal grants and awards. Fred is part of the eConsult team for the CO-MTN study.
Kyle Leggott, MD
Kyle Leggott, is a family physician with health policy experience who seeks innovative approaches to addressing health needs. Dr. Leggott is an Assistant Professor in the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine. He provides both outpatient and inpatient care and teaches family medicine residents and medical students at the University of Colorado. Dr. Leggott serves as the Primary Care Liaison for ECHO Colorado and has led multiple COVID-related ECHO series for primary care providers (PCPs) since the start of the pandemic. Current ECHO work for the CO-MTN AHRQ project has focused on the development of a self-paced online Long COVID course for PCPs and clinic staff, and a virtual small group learning community for PCPs.
Mayra Loera
Mayra is The Care Collaborative eConsult Program Manager and joined The Care Collaborative team in 2021. In her role, she provides essential support to the administrative functions of the department, which involves various tasks and processes that ensure smooth operations. Mayra manages schedules, organizes meetings, coordinates logistics and assists with procurement. She also contributes to the success of the eConsults program by assisting with coordination, communicating with key stakeholders and ensuring the smooth flow of operations. Her efforts help connect community providers to specialists at the Anschutz Medical Campus to help improve access to care and reduce health disparities. Mayra graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver where she earned a bachelor of science degree in healthcare management. She is a first generation graduate and is fluent in Spanish and English. After graduating, she worked at the Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance as a programs assistant, where she helped support women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In her free time, Mayra enjoys spending time with family and friends, going to concerts and shopping!
Lizzie Arvidson, MPH
Lizzie is The Care Collaborative program manger and has been a part of The Care Collaborative team since 2022. In her role Lizzie strives to combine her extensive experience in public health program coordination with her passion for health access and equity to deliver high quality programming to underserved populations. She received her bachelor degree in health promotion and human physiology from the University of Iowa and her master of public health from the Colorado School of Public Health Anschutz Medical Campus. In her free time, Lizzie enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the Colorado outdoors and trying new recipes.