The Indigenous Wellness Research Institute is committed to advancing science into the future with indigenous knowledges, scholarship excellence and the aspirations of communities through international knowledge sharing, networks and partnerships. IWRI is guided by our two Co-Executive Directors: Dr. Tessa Evans-Campbell and Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings.
Dr. Johnson-Jennings, a Choctaw tribal member and clinical health psychologist, is a Full Professor at the University of Washington in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health, and currently serves as the co-Executive Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI), as well as the founding director of IWRI’s Indigenous Environmental Health and Land-based Healing Division.
She further leads the International arm of the Covid Variant Rapid Response-Networks/ COVARRNET’s l Indigenous Engagement, Development, and Research/CIEDAR Pillar. She has dedicated decades to culturally appropriate behavioral interventions addressing harm and risk reduction, HIV/AIDS prevention, chronic disease prevention, and addictions.
Dr. Johnson-Jennings has further developed several, culturally specific frameworks and measures ranging from patient-provider and pain care to Indigenous specific frameworks. In particular, over the past decade, she has pioneered innovative land-based healing interventions, considering the impacts of historical trauma, discrimination, and the environment on healing. Her collaborative research, grounded in community-based participatory methods, has mostly focused on Indigenous women and youth and has partnered with Indigenous communities, tribes, and or organizations in the US, Canada, and New Zealand. While serving as a principal investigator or co-investigator, she has secured over $26 million in funding from major health institutes worldwide. Prior to UW, Dr. Johnson-Jennings serves as a founding Scientific Director in the US for the RICH Center and in Canada for the Wuniska HIV/AIDS Center and Land-based Healing Center.
Throughout her career, she has been recognized as a health leader in gaining prestigious fellowships and awards such as from the National Institute of Health, Harvard Leadership in Higher Education, and Health Equity Leaders Initiative, and US Fulbright Program. She has also mentored and trained Indigenous mentees worldwide. And most importantly, she is a mother to four amazing children.
Dr. Evans-Campbell is an Associate Professor and co-Executive Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the University of Washington School of Social Work. She is a Snohomish tribal member and a former Tribal Council Member with strong ties to tribal communities and Native organizations that serve Native children and families.
Dr. Evans-Campbell’s research focuses on Indigenous health promotion; historical trauma, resistance and healing; Native family well-being; substance use prevention; and child welfare in tribal communities. Throughout her work, she highlights indigenous strengths and intergenerational health practices.
She has served as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on numerous federally-funded grants and has carried extensive qualitative and survey research in reservation-based and urban Native communities.
She also leads two large research training grants focused on supporting Native students and junior scholars. Dr. Evans-Campbell began her career as a Children’s Social Worker in Los Angeles County and has a wealth of practice experience in Indian child welfare practice, child welfare policy, and community advocacy. She sits on a number of boards and committees related to Native health and wellness and is a former Commissioner for the Los Angeles City/County American Indian Commission.
Dr. Evans-Campbell has also won several teaching and mentoring awards including the University of Washington Lifetime Distinguished Teaching Award.