LUNA - Executive Committee
July 20, 2020
Biraj Karmacharya Ph.D.
About Dr. Karmachaya completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from College of Medical Sciences at Kathmandu University, Nepal. He also received a Master of Science in Tropical Medicine from Mahidol University, Thailand and his MPH (Global Health) and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, School of Public Health. Dr. Karmachaya…
August 16, 2018
Mike Spencer, PhD, MSW (Native Hawaiian)
August 15, 2017
E. Roberto Orellana, PhD
E. Roberto Orellana joined the University of Washington School of Social Work as a professor in 2021. Before joining the School faculty, he was professor and associate dean for research and sponsored projects in the School of Social Work at Portland State University (PSU) where he also served as an affiliate faculty in Public Health…
July 28, 2017
J. Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula, PhD
Dr. Kaholokula has a PhD in clinical psychology and is the Chair and Associate Professor of Native Hawaiian Health and Deputy Director for the Center of Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research (NIMHD P20) in the School of Medicine (JABSOM) at UHM. His current research is funded by the NIH to examine biological, psychological, and…
July 10, 2017
Maya Magarati, PhD (Indigenous Nepali)
Dr. Maya Magarati is an affiliate faculty with the University of Washington (UW) department of sociology, and a research scientist with the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute, and Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Public Health. She currently leads CDC/NNPHI-funded “Opioid Overdose Prevention in Tribes” project at Seven Directions. Maya has spent her last 10 years…
Cynthia R. Pearson, PhD
Research Associate Professor Cynthia R. Pearson is the Associate Director of the Research Core and Director of the Methods Core at the Interdisciplinary Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI, P60MD006909), where she collaborates with Indigenous scholars in the development of research policies and directs iterative data analysis on historical and cultural determinants of physical and mental health among…
July 7, 2017
Tessa Evans-Campbell, PhD (Snohomish)
Associate Professor Tessa Evans-Campbell is the director of the School’s MSW program. She completed her BA in art history at the University of Washington and her MSW at the University of California Los Angeles. Her research interests focus on historical trauma, resistance and healing; cultural buffers of trauma; substance use and mental health; and indigenous…
April 6, 2017
Karina L. Walters, PhD (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)
Biography Karina L. Walters, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is the Associate Dean for Research, the Katherine Hall Chambers Scholar, and the Co-Director and Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI; NIMHD P60MD006909). IWRI is one of 16 National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Comprehensive Centers of…
April 5, 2017
Bonnie Duran, DrPH (Opelousas/Coushatta)
Bonnie Duran has worked in public health education, evaluation, program planning and research with Native Americans and other communities of color for 35 years. For the past 10 years, she has been studying the prevalence of mental disorders, victimization risk factors and treatment of Native American women who use Indian Health Service primary care facilities…
