R. Sam Larson

Sam Larson, PhD, is a Senior Consultant with the Health & Risk Communication Center at Michigan State University. She is also the founder and principal consultant of Diffusion Associates, a consulting group that works with social innovators and sponsors committed to designing and scaling out effective interventions. Broadly, Sam’s research focuses on how and why people adopt innovations and how they fit these innovations into organization life. She is also interested in peer-mentoring as a form of continuing education for professionals.

Larson has led and collaborated on numerous evaluations and studies of health, educational, and social service programs. Her work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the State of Michigan, Teacher’s Development Group, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She was on faculty at Ohio University and the University of Denver, and was an assistant dean in the College of Education at Michigan State University. Larson was an internal evaluator and knowledge management director in Kaiser Permanente-Colorado in the division of Population and Prevention Services. Her PhD is in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University.

 

Recent and Selected Publications:

Larson R, Dearing J, Rao N,  and Medved C. Specialists' learning from facilitating group peer telementoring: a qualitative study. BMC Medical Education. 2024 December 18; 24(1).

Rao N, Larson RS, Dearing JW, and Medved CE. Theory and Application of Health Acculturation: A Communication Perspective. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books; 2024. Chapter 7, The culturally adaptive care model: A Project ECHO case study; p.157-175.

Larson, RS. Project ECHO Implementation: Guidance From the Field. Diffusion Associates. 2023.

Larson RS and Medved C. Selecting and Implementing a Telementoring Program: Case Studies of Project ECHO. Metropolitan Universities. 2022 June 11; 33(3):91-109. DOI: 10.18060/25689

Larson, R. S., Dearing, J. W. and Backer, T.E. Strategies to scale up social programs:  Pathways, partnerships and fidelity. Diffusion Associates. 2017.

Dearing J, Norton W, Larson R. Next Steps in Designing for Diffusion of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013; 44(1):S156-S160.

Larson RS, Dearing JW. The Handbook of Design Research Methods in Education: Innovations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Learning and Teaching. Kelly AE, Lesh RA, Baek JY, editors. New York, NY: Rutledge; 2008. Planning for purposive diffusion of design research; p.511-533.