Category: News

Student Spotlight: Melinda Smith

ld583 | March 8, 2023

When Melinda Smith was in grade school, she found a supportive mentor in her great-aunt Willie—a retired high school teacher of 25+ years in the Arlee Public School system in Montana—whose example of strength and wisdom changed the trajectory of the young girl’s life… Read more

C-CART scholar Sheena Greenstone featured in AZ Central

ld583 | February 25, 2023

KJZZ feature: Native Americans have higher cancer rates. Researchers are trying to figure out why

ld583 | February 3, 2023

The impacts of structural racism has led to many inequities for Native Americans, from poverty to education to health disparities — including cancer rates… Read more

Graduate students January 2023

ld583 | January 12, 2023

CHER welcomes our newest students Corey Hemstreet and Jennifer Etcitty. Hemstreet is in the online Master of Public Health–Health Promotion program and Etcitty is in the Master of Public Health–Indigenous Health program. They are both working with Amanda Hunter, CHER postdoctoral scholar… Read more

Indrakshi Roy named NAU assistant research professor

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Congratulations to Indrakshi Roy who was recently named an assistant research professor for the Northern Arizona University Department of Health Sciences and for the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). Roy’s professional interests are in gerontology, health disparities, health services research, health economics, health policy implications and healthy aging. She has been at CHER for three years as a biostatistician… Read more

Is rapid online ethnography effective in studying telehealth during the pandemic for people who use drugs? Researchers say yes and no

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When the COVID-19 pandemic began in January 2020, many health providers of people who use drugs shifted patient visits online as the U.S. adjusted its medical policies to accommodate a virtual environment… Read more

Navajo undergraduate students successful in educating community on COVID-19

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A group of researchers from Northern Arizona University and Diné College found that employing public health students to deliver COVID-19 information to their own community is an effective way to address residents’ vaccine concerns and hesitancy… Read more

Improving life for new parents

ld583 | January 11, 2023

When Native Americans for Community Action (NACA) received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October 2019, they decided to use part of it to increase breastfeeding awareness in the Flagstaff community—an important yet often overlooked necessity for parents… Read more

Building a healthy Navajo Nation

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In an unprecedented move eight years ago, the Navajo Nation created the first-ever tax in the U.S. that supports health promotion and disease prevention through a law that collects a 2 percent tax on foods with little to no nutritional value and removes the 5 percent tax on fruits, vegetables and water… Read more