Marcia O’Leary, RN

Marcia O’Leary, RN, in collaboration with her husband, Tim, established Missouri Breaks Industries Research, Inc. (MBIRI), in 1995. She has worked with and is well known to many community members, tribal council members, and health directors in North and South Dakota. She has coordinated the Strong Heart Study and many other projects with WSU and is co-leading the CATNAP project. MBIRI’s focus is on working with scientists and tribal communities from across the nation to assist with research on issues of special importance to tribal communities. It has worked with numerous institutions and PIs in collecting data and biological samples; disseminating research results to health care providers, tribal leaders, and community members; and developing capacity within tribal membership. MBIRI looks forward to continuing that collaboration to help tribal communities better understand the relationship between genetics and environment and their causal relationship to the diseases that heavily burden so many community members.

IREACH Programs

• Native Center for Alcohol Research and Education
  Field Site Project Manager
• Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research
  Project Co-Lead

Projects

• American Indian Chronic Disease Risk and Sleep Health (AI-CHERISH)
  Site Principal Investigator
• Native Center for Alcohol Research and Education (NCARE) Research Project 1 (RP1): Randomized Trial of an Intervention for Preventing Alcohol Exposed Pregnancy among Women in a Remote Reservation Community (Native-CHOICES)
  Field Site Project Manager
• Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Research Project 3 (RP3): Cognition After Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among Native American People (CATNAP)
  Project Co-Lead