Directory

Jeremy Anderson-Sloan is the associate vice president for institutional advancement. In this role he oversees fundraising campaigns, events, business partnerships, donor engagement and alumni services. Jeremy also serves on the Board of Directors at Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre and is a professional actor and musician.

Dr. Montserrat Andreys is a queer Latinx sports chiropractic physician born in Mexico City, Mexico, raised in Chicago, Ill., lived in Albuquerque, N.M., and educated and currently practicing at a sports med clinic in Portland, Ore. She is the founder of HEART Health Care for Artists. As a dancer herself, she was keenly aware of how underserved the artist community was in regards to health care. She utilizes the principles of sports medicine and applies them to the needs of the arts community through connections via social media, workshops, panel discussions, interviews and her work at the clinic.

Dr Laura Baffes is an associate professor & has been teaching at UWS since 1994.  She is a certified chiropractic sports physician (CCSP) and has additional training and teaches courses…

Lara Baker is (almost) a native Oregonian. Born in New Mexico, she moved to Oregon with her family at age one. Lara was raised on the South coast but has…

Lydii Barbarick is an admissions counselor at UWS. She graduated from Grand Canyon University with a Bachelor of Science in behavioral health and counseling. Her passion for helping others and…

Dr. Bates is a higher education administrator with a deep background in educational best practices for quality teaching and learning experiences in collegiate courses. She earned her PhD in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy from Michigan State University. She also holds an MA in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech and a BA from The College of William & Mary in psychology. Prior to arriving at UWS, Dr. Bates served as the Dean of the College of Education at Concordia University, with previous experience as Associate Dean and Assistant Dean for the COE. Dr. Bates has also served as Associate Professor and the Director of the online Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Willamette University and as an assistant professor at the University of Utah. Her primary scholarly agenda includes work in mentoring and supervision of clinical experiences, including a recently published co-authored book – “Agency in Supervision and Mentoring: Reinvigorating the Practice” (2019). Dr. Bates is driven by her commitment to high quality, intellectual professional experiences for educators at all levels (PK-20), empowering them in their roles as educated professionals who are able to provide quality learning experiences for students.

Dr. Jaci Bergstrom is the assistant dean of clinical internship at University of Western States. Originally from North Dakota, she completed her chiropractic education at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, MN in 2001. Upon graduation she practiced as an associate until 2007 when she opened her own practice in Fargo, ND. In 2012 she was given the opportunity to move to the Portland area with her husband and worked in a private practice setting until 2018 when she began her career at UWS as a clinical educator. Shifting her focus from a private practice setting to the instructional side and being able to pay forward the experiences gained over the years providing care to patients has been so gratifying. Dr. Bergstrom feels this has been a great transition that has allowed her to incorporate her passion for chiropractic into the lives of the students as they pursue their dreams of providing care to their future patients. In 2021, Dr. Bergstrom moved into a clinical supervisor role and in August of 2022 moved into the assistant dean position, appreciating the knowledge gained in each position. In her free time, Dr. Bergstrom enjoys spending time with her husband and son. She also loves the outdoors, cooking, exercise and traveling.  

Dr. Maryrose Blank is a sport and performance psychology consultant with over 15 years of experience incorporating mental skills training with various populations to include the military, athletes and coaches at every level, and other high performing organizations.  Dr. Blank began her career in college athletics, working at several colleges and universities to include Stony Brook University, Western Carolina University and SUNY Geneseo College. Over the past 10 years, the majority of her efforts are supporting the military to design and implement performance psychology training programs. Specifically, Dr. Blank’s clients have ranged from the 18th Airborne Corp to the Special Operations community both at Fort Bragg, NC and the within the National Capitol Region.  She is the founder of Tier-1 Mindset, LLC where she partners with a multi-disciplinary team to effectively integrate mental skills, fitness and nutrition into programs designed to assist individuals in maintaining sustainable, peak performance.  Dr. Blank is a certified mental performance coach (CMPC) with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Her passion is training individuals to reach health and performance goals through systematic mental skills training, using data analytics, biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy methodologies.  Her hobbies include mountain biking, ultra-racing and spending time with her dog. She is an Upstate NY native and an avid Buffalo Bills fan. She currently resides in Northern Virginia.   

Monde Bongo has a background in complementary and alternative medicine, public health, and human nutrition, based on a wealth of education and experiences from Zambia (Africa), India, and the USA….

Dr. Borman earned his doctorate in anatomy and cell biology from the Medical College of Wisconsin and then began his career at UWS in 1994 as a faculty member in the department of basic sciences. As a result of his research, Dr. Borman was awarded both the prestigious Jan Langman award and the Outstanding Dissertation award in two separate annual conferences of the American Association of Anatomists. For several years Dr. Borman served as professor and chair of the basic sciences department and taught courses in gross anatomy, cell biology, histology and human development. During that time he also held executive leadership positions in the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Association. In 2013, Dr. Borman accepted the appointment as dean of the college of chiropractic. In this capacity he worked collaboratively with faculty and administration to optimize the doctor of chiropractic program (DCP) curriculum and clinical experience. The UWS DCP is highly regarded for the depth and breadth of its curriculum and for its evidence-informed approach to chiropractic education. Late in 2017 Dr. Borman returned to the faculty in the department of basic sciences. He is currently course director for the human morphology course series. This three-part course series integrates gross anatomy, histology, and human development to synthesize understanding of human structure and function from multiple anatomical perspectives. If you ask him, he’ll admit working with students in the anatomy lab is still, by far, his favorite part of his job. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Borman has been an active participant in programmatic accreditation with the Council on Chiropractic Education since 2001. In this capacity he routinely participates in, or chairs, site teams as they visit the various DC programs around the country as part of the process of reaffirmation of accreditation. For several years he has also participated in the Part I - general anatomy test committee for the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. In his spare time, Dr. Borman is most likely to be found working on a “do it yourself” project around the home. Whether it’s a project inside the house or out in the yard, he’s always up for the challenge and gratification of taking on a new remodeling project.

Ami Brimhall is the wife of Dr. Joseph Brimhall, UWS president. She is one of the founding facilitators of the Art of Mindful Practice series, the Mind-Body Medicine elective for students, and the weekly Mindfulness Based Meditation meetings for students, staff, and faculty. As a student of meditation and yoga for many years, Ami is always in search of ways to promote activities that diminish negative stress and increase awareness, positive connections and emotions. When not with her sweet husband she can usually be found swimming, practicing yoga or painting in her very messy studio.

Joseph Brimhall, DC, has been president of University of Western States since 2003. He is a licensed chiropractic physician with over 22 years of clinical experience prior to becoming president of UWS, and was twice named Utah Chiropractic Physician of the Year. Dr. Brimhall has served on accrediting commissions and organizations at the programmatic, institutional, regional and international levels since 1998. He is the immediate past-chair of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) regional accrediting agency, a position he held from 2013 through 2019. Dr. Brimhall is also former president of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), past-president of the Councils on Chiropractic Education International (CCEI), former commissioner and director for the Council on Chiropractic Education Canada (CCEC), founding director and past chair of the Oregon Collaborative for Integrative Medicine (OCIM), and former executive committee member of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health (ACIH). He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and a member of the executive committee of the Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges & Universities.

Dr. Kate Brown is an associate professor in the department of clinical education. She originally came to Oregon to attend Lewis and Clark College for her bachelor’s degree and then…

Dr. Chris Browne earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Truman State University. He then attended Logan University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in human biology, continuing on to complete his doctor of chiropractic degree at University of Western States (UWS). Dr. Browne returned to UWS to earn his Master of Science in human nutrition and functional medicine, graduating with the first cohort in the program while maintaining a full-time clinical practice focusing on neuromusculoskeletal care and nutritional management of chronic disease. After co-developing and teaching post-graduate courses in manual therapy and chiropractic adjustive technique, Dr. Browne became a professor at National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) where he taught physical medicine, orthopedics and clinical nutrition to senior naturopathic doctorate students and supervised interns delivering patient care. During this time, he began teaching in the UWS MS in human nutrition and functional medicine program. Dr. Browne serves as director of the human nutrition and functional medicine programs, while continuing to teach. His other professional activities have included textbook reviewing, teaching in the NUNM Grand Rounds series, lecturing for the Oregon Collaborative for Integrative Medicine (OCIM) and presenting to various health care practitioner associations.

Courses Taught

• MS-HNFM Capstone Course

Dr. Pat Browne has worked in higher education administration for more than 34 years. His primary assignments have been in enrollment management, serving in both undergraduate and professional education settings. Dr. Browne joined UWS in 2008 as vice president for enrollment services and is now assisting the president’s office in fundraising and special projects.