The Minority Health Disparities Initiative is excited to welcome Stacy Rasmus, PhD, Director of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

She holds a joint appointment with the Northwest Indian College, in western Washington state where she is PI of a Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) program. Dr. Rasmus has worked with American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities for over two decades and has built an international program of research focusing on the promotion of Indigenous strengths, wellbeing and resilience in Alaska, the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rasmus is trained in the social and behavioral sciences with specific expertise in the translation of Indigenous knowledge and practice into health interventions that are community-driven and culturally-centered. She currently leads several NIH, NSF and SAMHSA grants that together engage AIAN populations in research and evaluation initiatives to eliminate disparities in youth suicide and substance use disorders, with a special focus on alcohol, opioids and co-occurring disorders. In addition to her research program, Dr. Rasmus also directs NIH capacity building and training grants, most recently becoming the Alaska PI for the American Indian and Alaska Native Clinical Translational Research Program (AIAN CTRP), a collaborative program bridging universities and Tribal partners in Alaska and Montana.

Rasmus will be presenting “Qungasvik (Tools for Life): Community-Level Strategies for Alaska Native Youth Suicide Prevention, A Program of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR)” on November 16, 2018 in the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center, Unity Room 212, at 1505 S Street, Lincoln, NE at 11:00 am.

This free event is open to the public.