IREACH 2023 year in review

Season’s greetings from the WSU IREACH team

In 2023, IREACH has embraced significant growth and change, with much to be grateful for and celebrate. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed new leadership, with Drs. Denise Dillard and Amanda Boyd joining Dr. Dedra Buchwald as IREACH Co-Directors. Their appointments are complemented by several additional faculty hires and 17 new staff members. Dr. Dedra Buchwald has resumed as Director with Anthippy Petras as Assistant Director for the Northwest Health Education and Research Outcomes Network. Originally housed within the Washington State University Spokane Chancellor’s office, IREACH was relocated administratively to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. We also added to our research portfolio, with 11 new grant awards on topics spanning investigator training in Alzheimer’s disease and aging research, Indigenous concepts of education, recruitment science to promote participation of American Indian and Alaska Native people in clinical trials, artificial intelligence and health equity, the promotion of traditional foods and outdoor activity to decrease childhood obesity, and the impacts of outdoor preschool on mental and physical health. Through these new projects and those ongoing, and together with our more than 150 partners across the country, we continue to work to promote health and health care equity among Indigenous and rural populations. Please enjoy a few photos that showcase some of our work this year and find more information on our highlights from 2023 below.

The crowd at the Denver March Powwow — Breanna Jones, Christina Veloz, and Dr. Gary Ferguson attended the Denver March Powwow.

NEAR Brain Health Event — The Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research team held Brain Health Events throughout the year in Utah, Idaho, American Samoa, North Carolina, Hawai’i, and New Mexico. Here, community members in American Samoa participate in a Brain Health Event, in April.

IREACH and WSU colleagues at the ATNI Midyear Convention — Members of IREACH and Washington State University attended the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) Midyear Convention in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in May. From left to right in the photo are: Michael Gaffney, Director of the WSU Extension Community & Economic Development Program Unit; Terri Parr, ATNI and now working for WSU Office of Tribal Relations; Dr. Zoe Higheagle Strong, Vice Provost for Native American Relations and Programs and Tribal Liaison to the President; Dan Fagerlie, Tribal Liaison for WSU Extension and the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences; Dr. Naomi Bender, Director of Native American Health Sciences and Director of the Center for Native American Health; Dr. Gary Ferguson, Director of Outreach for IREACH; Christina Veloz, Tribal Liaison for IREACH; Debbie Fredricks, WSU Extension; and Dori Babcock, Tribal Liaison for IREACH and the Northwest Health Education and Research Outcomes Network.

Members of the NEAR team in Hawai'i — The Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research team held seven Brain Health Events over six days in Kapolei and Laie, Hawai’i, in July. In the photo are Dr. Cole Allick and Grace Shepherd (second and third from right, respectively) with colleagues from the ‘IKE Kupuna (Elder Wisdom) project team.

Community members at the Chief Seattle Club luncheon — Drs. Gary Ferguson and Austin Henderson attended the Chief Seattle Club Annual Luncheon, in October.

Sage Mednansky, Charlotte Bryne, Camille Pham-Lake, and Gary Ferguson — Sage Mednansky, Charlotte Bryne, Camille Pham-Lake, and Dr. Gary Ferguson attended the Seattle Indian Health Board’s Adeline Garcia Community Service Awards, in March.

Members of IREACH volunteering at a Seattle Mariners game — Dr. Amy Bailey (University of Illinois – Chicago), Maddy Rantala, Dr. Cole Allick, Camille Pham-Lake, Sukhneet Toor, Dr. Denise Dillard, Dr. Gary Ferguson, Kimny Sysawang, and Breanna Jones volunteered at a Seattle Mariners game, in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in May.

NEAR study team members at a Brain Health Event in North Carolina — The Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research team held a Brain Health Event at its North Carolina satellite center with the Indigenous Elder community in Maxton, in June. In the photo are Justin Nelson (Campbell University), Grace Shepherd (WSU IREACH), Wendy Bryant (Campbell University), Dr. Alfred Bryant (Campbell University), Justina Tavana (Brigham Young University—Hawai’i), and two Campbell University students.

Marla Alohilani Tam-Hoy Barhoum, Alika Maunakea, Nicole lee Kamakahiolani Ellison, and Johnathan Cruz — Marla Alohilani Tam-Hoy Barhoum and Nicole lee Kamakahiolani Ellison attended the Native American Nutrition Conference in Prior Lake, Minnesota, in September. Here they are with Dr. Alika Maunakea from University of Hawai’i and Johnathan Cruz, Director of Ecosystems and Government Relations with KALO.

IREACH and the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center hosted a Goldfinch Elder’s Education ADRD Block Party at Chief Seattle Club’s Goldfinch Elders’ Housing, in October. From left to right in the photo are Breanna Jones, Block Party emcee David Hillaire aka DJ Big Rez, Goldfinch Housing Supervisor Frank Sanchez, and Dr. Gary Ferguson.

IREACH Team photo — IREACH faculty and staff held their annual retreat at the Museum of History and Industry in South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington, in April.

In memoriam

Join us in remembering Dr. Ka’imi Sinclair, who passed away in October 2022. We honor Ka’imi’s memory through her partnerships and draw inspiration from the care, attention, and joy that she brought to her work. She is deeply missed by family, friends, and colleagues across the country. Dr. John Roll, Professor and Vice President for Research in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and Associate Vice President for Health Sciences Research, in collaboration with the Washington Academy of Sciences, is organizing a memorial lecture in Ka’imi’s honor in March 2024.

New faculty hires and faculty promotions

In 2023, IREACH welcomed five new faculty members–Drs. Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, Melissa Vera, Rachel Wilbur, Cole Allick, and Patrick Carlin. They each bring diverse research interests, skillsets, and partnerships that complement and expand the strengths and portfolio of IREACH. We are grateful to have them as colleagues and are eager to support them as they work to promote health equity for Indigenous and rural populations. In addition, Drs. Clemma Muller and Patrik Johansson were awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor and Professor, respectively.

Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, PhD, MSW

Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, PhD, MSW, is a mother of two teenage daughters, an Inupiaq scholar, a Tribal citizen of the Nome Eskimo Community and a descendant of Kiŋiġin – the Native Village of Wales. As an Assistant Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, she focuses on the promotion of connectedness, wellbeing, and relational healing. Dr. Ullrich is a 2022 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow and a board member of the Alaska Children’s Trust.

Melissa Vera, PhD

Melissa Vera, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the College of Nursing. She is a citizen of the Ts’msyen and Yaqui First Nations. Her research is grounded in Indigenous methodologies and focuses on Indigenous health and climate change.

Rachel E. Wilbur, PhD, MPH

Rachel E. Wilbur, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. She is descendant Tolowa and Chetco and grew up in northern California and western Washington state. She studies the role of cultural engagement and revitalization in promoting wellbeing for American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and she is invested in community- and strengths-based research. Dr. Wilbur is a member of the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program Indigenous Research Working Group.

Cole Allick, PhD, MHA

Cole Allick, PhD, MHA, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. He is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and graduated with his doctorate in Indigenous Health from the University of North Dakota in the program’s inaugural class. He previously served as a Research Manager and Outreach Liaison for IREACH. Dr. Allick is focused on Alzheimer’s disease research and associated topics as well as Indigenous research methods.

Patrick Carlin, PhD

Patrick Carlin, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Economic Sciences and Affiliated Faculty at IREACH. Dr. Carlin’s research interests include health economics and policy, Indigenous economics and health, applied microeconomics, and policy analysis.

Clemma Muller, PhD

Clemma Muller, PhD, was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. Her research interests center around colorectal cancer screening and family-based health promotion, and she is a longstanding mentor for junior faculty and staff at IREACH.

Patrik Johansson, MD, MPH

Patrik Johansson, MD, MPH, was awarded tenure and promoted to full Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. His research focuses on community-based participatory research and chronic disease prevention and management in rural and Indigenous populations.

New IREACH leadership

At the start of the year, we welcomed Denise Dillard, PhD, and Amanda Boyd, PhD, as Co-Directors of IREACH. They join Executive Director Dedra Buchwald, MD, as our Institute’s leadership team. All three have faculty appointments in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

IREACH Directors, Drs. Denise Dillard, Dedra Buchwald, and Amanda Boyd

Denise Dillard, PhD

Dr. Dillard is Inupiaq Eskimo and was born in Fairbanks and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She is a Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, and she was awarded tenure in 2023. Dr. Dillard is a licensed psychologist and has conducted postdoctoral quantitative and qualitative research since 1998. Before joining IREACH, she served as the Director of Research for Southcentral Foundation, a large Tribal health organization in Anchorage, Alaska. She presently serves on the National Institute on Drug Abuse American Indian and Alaska Native Collaborative Research Engagement Workgroup. Dr. Dillard has a son, Reid, who attends college in Texas, has two cats, and enjoys spending time kayaking, camping, fishing, quilting, going to hot yoga, and watching her son’s baseball games.

Amanda Boyd, PhD

Dr. Boyd is a member of the Métis Nation of northern Alberta. She is an Associate Professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, having previously served as faculty in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. Dr. Boyd’s research draws from an interdisciplinary background, which includes communication, rural sociology, management sciences, and Indigenous studies. In 2023, she was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences and appointed to the Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication of the National Academies for Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In her free time, Dr. Boyd can be found on her family farm and ranch in the far north of Canada with her son Sage.

New NW HERON leadership

Dr. Buchwald has resumed as Director of the Northwest Health Education and Research Outcomes Network (NW HERON), and Anthippy Petras, who has served as the network’s Program Manager since 2017, was promoted to serve as its Assistant Director. NW HERON, Washington State University’s practice-based research network, is a collaborative of more than 150 primary care clinics in Washington and neighboring states devoted to improving the health and healthcare of Native and rural patients. We are grateful for the contributions of Dr. Patrik Johansson, who had served as Director of NW HERON from 2019 to September 2023. During his tenure as Director, the NW HERON team secured $3.95 million in extramural grant funds to enhance the care delivered by these community-based practices. He also cultivated dozens of clinical partnerships and facilitated opportunities for practices, providers, and students to participate in community-driven research.

Grants awarded to IREACH faculty

Community Health and Aging in Native Groups of Elders Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, Principal Investigators Drs. Dedra Buchwald and Julie Baldwin (Northern Arizona University), funded by the National Institute on Aging
Native Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, Principal Investigators Drs. James Galvin (University of Miami) and Patrik Johansson, funded by the National Institute on Aging
Re-centering Indigenous Concepts of Educational Success to Promote Systemic Change, Principal Investigator Dr. Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, funded by the Spencer Foundation
Recruitment of American Indian and Alaska Native People into Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials, Principal Investigator Dr. Amanda Boyd, with Co-Investigators Drs. Denise Dillard, Juliana Garcia and Clemma Muller, funded by the University of Southern California Clinical Trial Recruitment Lab
AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship, Principal Investigator Dr. Solmaz Amiri, funded by the National Institutes of Health Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program
AIM-AHEAD Leadership Fellowship, Principal Investigator Dr. Anna Zamora-Kapoor, funded by the National Institutes of Health Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program
More Outside Your Door, Principal Investigator Dr. Timothy Thomas (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium) with Co-Investigators Drs. Amber Fyfe-Johnson and Gary Ferguson, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Wellness Advocacy Zones: Opportunities for Kinship Involvement, Principal Investigator Dr. Shannon Maloney (University of Nebraska Medical Center) with Co-Investigator Dr. Luciana Hebert, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute