My expertise is in health disparities among American Indian/First Nations peoples, particularly in substance use and mental health, and my research has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Each project uses community-based participatory principles and addresses important research questions about mental, physical, and behavioral health disparities. One stream has focused on health and substance use among AI/FN young people. The original project, which I started working on as a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska, was a longitudinal panel study of adolescents (who were ages 10 to 12 years at baseline) from 8 reservation/reserves in the upper Midwest and Canada. The study is now in its 12th wave and includes the original participants and their children, providing three generations of insight into the emergence of health disparities as well as cultural sources of strength and resilience. 

The second stream of research concerns Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) among Ojibwe adults. AI peoples have the highest rate of T2D among all Americans, and our studies have identified the impacts of stress on comorbidities and treatment compliance, both of which can affect disease progression. We have also examined culturally-salient coping resources that can buffer or offset stress. Currently, we are conducting a randomized controlled trial of an AI-developed intervention, Together Overcoming Diabetes, with five Ojibwe reservation communities. This intervention aims to improve health outcomes of AI adults with T2D and their at-risk children through a home-based education program that incorporates diet, exercise, stress, social support, and culture.

My roles in each of those projects have been focused on survey design and measurement selection, data analysis, writing research papers and reports, mentoring graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, and collaborating with community research councils on publication and dissemination.