Katie Schultz, PhD, MSW (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Michigan

Katie Schultz completed her MSW from the University of Washington in 2002. Prior to starting the PhD program, she served as the Administrative Director at the University’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute.
An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Katie’s research interests focus on American Indian/Alaska Native health disparities. More specifically, she is interested in trauma exposure and substance abuse over the lifetime and successful pathways to recovery as well as culturally-based health promotion models and intervention design. She is also interested in the development of innovative conceptual and methodological approaches to research in rural and tribal communities; emphasizing projects that inform health promotion rooted in Indigenous knowledges and sustainable solutions by and for Native peoples. She is currently working on the Yappalli project – a culturally focused, strengths-based outdoor experiential obesity-substance abuse risk prevention and health leadership program.