Fairness First Blog

Finding Solutions for Cancer Care through Partnership

A discussion with Community-Campus Partners Sheila Hammer and Tanya “TJ” Riggs

This month we’re observing National Cancer Research Month, a time to highlight “the importance of lifesaving research to the millions of people around the world affected by the collection of devastating diseases we call cancer.” Sheila Hammer and Tanya Riggs – who goes by TJ – are participants of SHERC’s Community Campus Partnership Support Program. Through their partnership, Sheila and TJ are identifying and addressing the psychosocial and emotional needs of Indigenous people who receive cancer care in the Flagstaff area. Read TJ and Sheila’s discussion…

Riding Together: The Power of Mountain Biking in Youth Development

Katherine Mommaerts and Hannah Hendrickson discuss their CCPS partnership

March is Social Work Month! Social work is essential to public health, helping individuals and communities access resources, navigate challenges, and improve overall well-being. By addressing social factors like housing, education, and mental health, social workers play a key role in strengthening public health systems and reducing health disparities. Read Katherine and Hannah’s interview…

Anthropology and Public Health: Levers for Change

A Conversation with CHER’s Mark Remiker and Kelly Laurila

This month we’re celebrating Anthropology Day and sharing stories from Mark Remiker and Kelly Laurila about how they use their backgrounds in anthropology in their public health work. Anthropologists study humanity – past and present – and look at human behavior, culture, society, language, and biology. Anthropologists use their diverse skill sets to bring critical insights into human health and contribute to public health efforts. Read more on Kelly Laurila’s and Mark Remiker’s work…

Mental Wellness and Stress: Bridging Gaps Through Cultural Awareness

A discussion with researchers from NAU’s Stress and Health Equity Lab

Welcome to a new year! We’re looking forward to sharing more health equity research stories from investigators, students, and community partners. To kick off the new year and celebrate Mental Wellness Month, we’re featuring Dr. Tara Bautista and students from the Stress and Health Equity Lab. Their research focuses on adapting mental health interventions to be culturally relevant and addressing the uneven distribution of stress with a focus on Latino communities. Read more on Dr. Bautista’s Stress and Health Equity Lab…

Reflections on Health Equity: Looking Back to Look Ahead

A discussion with SHERC’s Samantha Sabo

For this month’s post, Dr. Samantha Sabo takes a bird’s eye view and reflects on her experiences in health equity as a public health professional/researcher and shares how she plans to leverage her professional ethics as health-related policies change with the incoming presidential administration. Read more on Dr. Sabo’s experiences…

Empoderando Voces Comunitarias: Colaboración y Abogacía para y por las Familias Inmigrantes

Empowering Community Voices: Collaboration and Advocacy for and by Immigrant Families

En conmemoración del Mes de la Herencia Hispana, damos la bienvenida a los participantes del Programa de Apoyo a la Asociación Comunitaria del Campus (Community Campus Partnership Support-CCPS), la Dra. Leah Mundell y Roxana Cardiel. En esta asociación, el equipo ha estado trabajando para unir a las comunidades a través de la organización escolar y vecinal, y esfuerzos de desarrollo de capacidad. Involucran a estudiantes, líderes comunitarios y familias inmigrantes en esta organización y abogacía para trabajar con las escuelas locales en la resolución de problemas como el acceso al idioma para las familias y estudiantes de habla hispana. Leer más en Dra. Mundell and Cardiel’s estudio… 

In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, we welcome Community Campus Partnership Support (CCPS) Program participants Dr. Leah Mundell and Roxana Cardiel. In this partnership, the team has been working to bring communities together through school-based and neighborhood organizing, and capacity-building efforts. They engage students, community leaders, and immigrant families in this organizing and advocacy to work with local schools to address issues such as language access for Spanish speaking families and students. Read more on Dr. Mundell and Cardiel’s research… 

Celebrating Collaboration: Creative Partnership

Weaving together clinical education and patient care

This month we welcome Community Campus Partnership Support (CCPS) Program participants Dr. Holly Carroll and Heather Murray and two students, Alexandria Calca and Ian Splittorff. Longtime collaborators, Holly and Heather worked together over the past year to identify opportunities to increase access to healthcare for underserved people in Arizona and engage students in career paths that provide healthcare to people in underserved communities. Alex and Ian discuss their experiences as students working in the HUG Clinic and organizing an event (Healthy for HUG) to provide educational resources to community members. Read more on Dr. Carroll and Murray’s research…

Creating Good Days

A discussion with the researchers from the Healthy Aging Lab

In honor of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, we spoke with researchers from NAU’s Healthy Aging Lab. Led by Dr. Eric Cerino, the members of the Healthy Aging Lab conduct community-focused research that promotes wellbeing throughout the later years of life. Read more on Eric’s research…

Using Play to Address Health Inequities

A discussion with researchers from the Playful Health Technology Lab

This month we’re observing Speech-Language-Hearing Month. Organized by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, May is a time to encourage dialogue and share resources about communication disorders and the role speech-language pathologists and audiologists play in providing care. This month’s blog features researchers and students at the Playful Health Technology Lab, led by Dr. Jared Duval. Applying a holistic approach to health and play, the team creates technologies to meet the needs identified by the communities they engage with. Read more on Jared’s research …

Improving Women’s Health During and After Incarceration

A Conversation with Interdisciplinary Health PhD Candidate Rebecca Annorbah

April is Second Chance Month. This yearly observance draws attention to opportunities, programs, and services from state, tribally-based, and community-based organizations that support people as they return to their communities after incarceration. In this post we feature Interdisciplinary Health PhD candidate Rebecca Annorbah, who uses community-engaged approaches to evaluate a reentry program. One of the project’s goals is to identify areas for improving health outcomes for women. Read more on Rebecca’s Research …

Celebrating Women in STEM

A Discussion with PMI’s Dr. Emily Cope, Katie Conn, Daisy Barroso, and Jaliyah McNeil

In recognition of International Women’s Day, this month’s post features four researchers from Dr. Emily Cope’s laboratory at NAU’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI). Female researchers experience a variety of obstacles in the workplace, including inequitable funding, harassment, and lower pay – as well as social and educational barriers before they reach college. inequities in STEM opportunities at younger ages. This post celebrates the accomplishments of female researchers at NAU and explores their experiences as women in STEM. Read more on Celebrating Women in STEM …

Addressing wellness in Navajo schools and promoting Native American representation in health sciences

A Q&A with Professor Regina Eddie

In this post we feature Dr. Regina Eddie, associate professor in NAU’s College of Nursing. Regina discusses how her research and work with Navajo Nation elementary and middle schools address school health and wellness through a health equity lens. Read Regina’s Blog …

Student Researchers Spotlight: Alexandra Olin

Alexandra Olin

In this post we feature Alexandra Olin. Alexandra serves as a graduate research assistant for SHERC’s Community Engagement Core, where she has dedicated two years to her role, beginning during her undergraduate studies.

Alexandra Olin holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health from Northern Arizona University and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Public Health with a focus on health promotion. Read Alex’s Blog …

How the dynamics between LGBTQ2S+ individuals and their peers in senior living communities affects LGBTQ2S+ care access with Megan McCoy

Dr. Megan McCoy

In this post we feature a partnership between NAU’s Dr. Megan McCoy and Tena Alonzo of Beatitudes Campus, located in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. McCoy responds to questions about how she and Tena are using funding from SHERC’s Community Campus Partnership Support Program to explore aging experiences of members of the LGBTQ2S+ community in Arizona. Read Dr. McCoy’s blog …

Native Spirit: Development, implementation, and evaluation of a culturally grounded after-school program with Amanda Hunter

Dr. Amanda Hunter

In this post, we feature Dr. Amanda Hunter. Dr. Hunter’s project “Native Spirit: Development, implementation, and evaluation of a culturally grounded after-school program,” was funded through SHERC’s Pilot Project Program. Read more …

Introducing Caroline Mende, SHERC’s New Research Coordinator

Caroline Mende

Caroline Mende is a new Research Coordinator with SHERC’s Community Engagement Core. In this role, Caroline coordinates the Community-Campus Partnership Support Program and the Fairness First Campaign, and is using her background in anthropology to support a cultural consensus modeling project that will examine how people throughout Arizona think about healthy communities and needs. Read more …

SHERC Community Expert Board Spotlight: Kalvina Belin

Why I advocate for early childhood health and education in Arizona as a tribal liaison

Kalvina Belin, MPH

We are pleased to begin spotlighting members of the new SHERC Community Expert Board as we continue featuring health fairness leaders, researchers, and advocates throughout the Southwest through the Fairness First Blog.  Read more …

SHERC Community Expert Board Spotlight: Jon Meyers

Advocating for Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Jon Meyers

Jon Meyers is a member of the Community Expert Board for the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC) at Northern Arizona University.  Read more …

Organisms, chemical environments and health

Matt Salanga, PhD

Matt Salanga is an Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences. His research is focused on understanding how organisms interact with their chemical environments in ways that affect development and health. Read more …

Vaccine design, health disparities and public health research

Naomi Lee, PhD

Naomi Lee is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and affiliated faculty of the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative, the Native American Cancer Prevention partnership, and Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications. Her research focuses on novel vaccine development Read more …

 Health equity and infectious diseases

Jason Ladner, PhD

Jason Ladner is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute. His research uses technologies in biology to study infectious diseases. Ladner has recently helped to develop a new approach for understanding Read more …

Health equity, climate, wildlife and human disease systems

Joseph Mihaljevic, PhD

Joseph Mihaljevic is an assistant professor in the Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems. His current research spans wildlife and human disease systems, where he uses data and math to better understand and predict the spread of infectious disease. Read more …

Healthy soils and health equity

Anita Antoninka, PhD

Anita Antoninka is an assistant research professor in the School of Forestry. Her research focus is soil ecology, community ecology, mycorrhizae, biocrust, soil invertebrates, soil nutrients, and restoration. Read more …

Health equity, disease and gut microbiome

Emily Cope, PhD

Emily Cope earned her BS and PhD at Northern Arizona University. Recently, she entered the field of Alzheimer’s disease where she and a team of scientists are measuring how microbes in the gut  Read more …

Health equity and Valley fever

Bridget Barker, PhD

Bridget Barker is a research-intensive tenured professor at NAU. Her research focus is the ecology/genomics of human pathogens Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii. Read more …

Health equity for children with special health care needs

Olivia Lindly, PhD, MPH

Olivia Lindly is passionate about advancing health equity for children with special health care needs and their families. In 2019, she joined NAU’s Department of Health Sciences. Prior to NAU, she completed the Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Postdoctoral Fellowship Read more …

Health equity and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Heather Williamson, PhD

Heather Williamson is an associate professor in NAU’s Department of Occupational Therapy and the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research. She worked as an occupational therapist with individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities  Read more …

How do wildfires affect health equity?

Catrin Edgeley, PhD

Catrin Edgeley is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Sociology in NAU’s School of Forestry. Her research focuses on wildfire social science, including how communities adapt to wildfire risk and impacts Read more …