About the Center for Indigenous Health Research

Vision: Complete wellness and health equity for Indigenous communities.

Mission: To work with Indigenous communities and allies to achieve health equity through service, research, and education.

The Center for Indigenous Health Research is located within the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the University of Washington and directed by Dr Bonnie Duran.

Meet The Director

Director, Bonnie Duran, DrPH

Dr. Bonnie Duran’s CV – Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Bonnie Duran Dr.PH is an associate professor in the Department of Health Services, University of Washington School of Public Health and is also Director of the Center for Indigenous Health Research at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (www.iwri.org). She received her DrPH from the UC Berkeley SPH in 1997. Bonnie teaches graduate courses in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Health Promotion/Disease Prevention and critical theory. She has worked in public health research, evaluation and education among Native Americans and other communities of color for 27 years. Dr. Duran is currently the Principal Investigator of two NIH funded research projects in “Indian Country”. Working with the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center, and the University of New Mexico, she is studying the promoters, barriers and mechanisms of change in Community Based Participatory Research. With the Northwest Indian College and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, she is conducting a needs and capacity study of behavioral health at 34 Tribal Colleges (http://www.iwri.org/health/). Dr. Duran is also Co-PI of an NIMH funded HIV and mental health research training program. Her past work includes partnering with the Navajo Nation, Indian Health Service and Indigenous Community Based Organizations on frontier rural projects aimed at improving health services, and developing culture- centered health promotion. Using indigenous theories to guide her work, Bonnie’s research includes studies of the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders, violence, and child abuse; and treatment seeking patterns and barriers to care among Native peoples. The overall aims of her research are to work with communities to design public health treatment and prevention efforts that are empowering, culture-centered, assessable and sustainable and that have maximum public health impact. She has over 50 publications including articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and books. Dr. Duran is on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Public Health and Progress in Community Health Partnerships; and is on the CDC Health Disparities Advisory Board. In her free time, Dr. Duran teaches “Indigenous Presence” (mindfulness) meditation to Indigenous and other communities of color.