In 2004, two Native American junior faculty members committed to indigenous wellness (Karina Walters and Tessa Evans-Campbell) and two students at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work (UW SSW) came together to exchange resources, expertise, and contacts to advance research involving Native American populations. Thus was born the “Native Wellness Center,” which remained…

As we approach the end of 2017, IWRI is preparing to launch recruitment for two research training programs, the Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training program 2 (NIMH R25MH084565) and the Indigenous Substance Abuse, Medicines, and Addictions Research Training program. Both programs have been a part of the IWRI Research Training portfolio for years. IHART2 is celebrating…

The Māhina international Indigenous health training program is now accepting applications for the 2018 program. Māhina provides an international 10-12 week Indigenous health research training opportunity in New Zealand. For more information and to apply to the program visit https://iwri.org/mahina  

DEADLINE: December 15, 2017 The Indigenous Wellness Research Institute National Center of Excellence, School of Social Work, University of Washington, is pleased to issue a call for eligible applicants for the 2018 cohort of the Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training Program 2 (IHART2). The IHART2 program is seeking a diverse pool of qualified academic and community…

The Indigenous Wellness Research Institute National Center of Excellence continues its tradition of community-based participatory research with the recent funding of Healing Seasons: Pathways to Our Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit. Healing Seasons is a research project funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities under grant number R01 MD 011574 and…

IWRI was honored to host our whanau (family) from Aotearoa (New Zealand) twice this past year. In May of 2017, ten members of the Te Kotahi Research Institute (at the University of Waikato), Te Māngai Paho (Wellington, NZ) and the University of Auckland, along with a regional director of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, visited…

Several staff members represented IWRI this fall at the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) held in Calgary, Alberta, September 25-28, 2017. As members of the CAAN-directed HIV/AIDS Indigenous Knowledge Translation working group for the past year, Meg Meneghel MacDonald and Leo Egashira participated in pre-conference meetings with 16 other attendees…

We are thrilled to share with you the news that, pending approval of the UW Board of Regents, Dr. Michael Spencer will be joining the School of Social Work as professor, and the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) as Director of Native Hawai’ian, Pacific Islander and Oceanic Affairs. Mike’s passion for social justice, his commitment…

Since its beginning, IWRI has been dedicated to working in partnership with local tribal communities. One early and continuing partnership came about in 2008 when Yakama tribal women and the director of the Indian Education program of the Toppenish School District reached out to the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) to assist with the tribal…

Val Kalei Kanuha is the UW School of Social Work’s new Assistant Dean of Field Education. In a recent conversation, she describes herself as a “returnee” because she is a PhD graduate of the School. Shortly after graduating from the UW SSW in 1997, Kanuha moved to her home state of Hawai’i to take her…