Southcentral Foundation - Health Research at Southcentral Foundation

Research at Southcentral Foundation

“I went through the whole intake process of the EARTH study. That’s when they were doing the big push for getting everybody involved. So I was invited to take part in that.” ~Josh Franks, Program Coordinator, Southcentral Foundation

A Tradition of Healthy Families

Research Question: What is a better way to assess tobacco exposure during pregnancy?

Summary: This study looks at smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke among Alaska Native pregnant women and their infants. After informed consent, a saliva sample and questionnaire are collected during each trimester of pregnancy and five times during the child’s first year of life. Participants do not need to use or be exposed to tobacco products in order to participate in the study. The Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health support this study as part of the Native American Research Centers for Health.

Healthy Children, Healthy Communities

Research Question: What is a better way to assess alcohol exposure during pregnancy?

Summary: Funded by the Native American Research Centers for Health, this pilot study involves Alaska Native women in their third trimester of pregnancy. The study purpose is to develop methods to better assess alcohol use during pregnancy. Consenting mothers are asked a series of questions and a meconium sample is gathered from the infant after delivery.

Terms, see also: informed consent and biological sample.

Ethical and Cultural Implications of Specimen Banking Among Alaska Native People

Research Question: What do Alaska Native people think about specimen banking?

Summary: The purpose of this study is to find out what Alaska Native people think about specimen banking. Specimen banking is the storage of samples from the body like blood, saliva or urine for research. Specimen banks can answer questions about health and help find new ways to treat and prevent diseases. For instance, biological samples helped researchers create the hepatitis B vaccine. In this project, both interviews and focus groups will be used to gather information. The history of using specimen banks for research among Alaska Native people will also be studied.

Terms, see also: specimen bank, qualitative research, interview and focus groups.

Diabetes Prevention Research Project

Research Question: How can we prevent diabetes in people who are at high risk for the disease?

Summary: Southcentral Foundation is conducting the Diabetes Prevention Research Project in partnership with the Indian Health Service. Alaska Native and American Indian people have a higher rate of diabetes than other racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of the project is to find out if a 16-session educational program designed specifically for Native people can reduce the development of diabetes in an at-risk group.

Terms, see also: diabetes and clinical research

Education and Research Towards Health (EARTH)

Research Question: How do diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle and cultural factors impact the development and progression of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease?

Summary: Education and Research Towards Health, or EARTH, is a longitudinal study that involves Alaska Native and American Indian people in Alaska, on the Navajo reservation and in the Dakotas. Within Alaska, Southcentral Foundation was one of three EARTH sites funded by National Institutes of Health. The others were based at the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Terms, see also: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Traditions of the Heart

Research Question: How can heart disease be prevented among middle-aged Alaska Native women?

Summary: Southcentral Foundation has led the Traditions of the Heart project since 1999. Funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a research-based intervention program with partners located throughout the nation. The purpose of the study is to reduce cardiovascular health risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and smoking among Alaska Native and American Indian women ages 40-64. Traditions of the Heart offers medical screening for cardiovascular health risk factors at the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center’s Family Medicine Clinic and an interactive adult group focused intervention.

Terms, see also: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and screening.

Publications

Stefanich, C. A., Witmer, J. M., Young, B. D., Benson, L. E., Penn, C. A., Ammerman, A. S., et al. (2005). Development, adaptation, and implementation of a cardiovascular health program for Alaska Native women. Health Promotion Practice, 6(4), 472-481

Witmar, J. M., Hensel, M. R., Holck, P. S., Ammerman, A. S., Will, J. C., (2004). Heart disease prevention for Alaska Native women: a review of pilot study findings. Journal of Women’s Health, 13(5), 569-578.

Our Research Team

Ileen Sylvester, M.B.A.
Ileen Sylvester, MBA, Vice President of Executive and Tribal Services at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska, has held management positions in finance and operations in the organization since 1995. She currently manages and directs research, the day-to-day operations of tribal relations and village initiatives for healthcare delivery to 55 rural villages, traditional healing, Seattle resource advocate office, communications and public relations, contract management, and corporate office support. She works closely with Southcentral Foundation’s President/CEO Katherine Gottlieb, MBA, and executive staff in the management and direction of over 1,300 professionals in a complex healthcare service delivery system including Primary Care/Outpatient Services at the Alaska Native Medical Center to 46,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people residing in the Anchorage Service.

Ruth A. Etzel, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Ruth Etzel, Research Director at Southcentral Foundation, is a pediatrician and epidemiologist. She was born and raised in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Dr. Etzel received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1985. She founded the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Epidemiology and chaired it from 1988 to 1992. She is the editor of the AAP manual Pediatric Environmental Health (now in its 2nd edition) and an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. In 2003, she was appointed to the AAP Committee on Native American Child Health. In addition to being board-certified in Pediatrics, Dr. Etzel is also board-certified in Preventive Medicine and served for nine years on the American Board of Preventive Medicine. She has received numerous research awards, including the Arthur Flemming Award from the Washington, D.C. Jaycees and the 1998 Clinical Society Award from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Association for her discovery of the association between infant pulmonary hemorrhage and exposure to toxigenic molds.

Denise A. Dillard, Ph.D.
Dr. Denise Dillard, Senior Researcher at Southcentral Foundation, is a psychologist. She is Inupiaq born in Fairbanks, Alaska and raised in Anchorage.

Dr. Dillard received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Colorado State University in 1997. Her postdoctoral position with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center involved a large epidemiological study of psychiatric disorders and service utilization amongst two reservation-based American Indian tribes. She briefly provided clinical services to the White Mountain Apache Tribe before returning to Alaska in 2001 as a clinician at the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center. She moved into administration in 2004 for Southcentral Foundation and simultaneously began a distance research mentoring program with Spero Manson, Ph.D., of University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She accepted a full-time research position at Southcentral Foundation in October of 2006. Her current research interests are the identification and management of behavioral health disorders among Alaska Native people in the primary care setting.

Laurie J. Helzer, M.P.H.
Laurie Helzer is a Senior Researcher for Southcentral Foundation.

Laurie received her M.P.H. in Global Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2005. She was a fellow for the Center for Health, Culture and Society in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Emory University examining the use of film and photography as a tool for participatory-based health research and communication. She received the Transcultural Education Award through the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust for her public health work with trafficked women with the International Organization for Migration in Chisinau, Moldova. She was a finalist for the Charles C. Shepard Thesis Award for her thesis titled “Through the Eyes of Trafficked Moldovan Women.” She is a member of Delta Omega, a public health honorary society.

Vanessa Hiratsuka
Vanessa Hiratsuka is a Program Manager for Southcentral Foundation. She was raised in Northern California and is Navajo (Dine) and Winnemem Wintu.

Vanessa serves as the Principal Investigator of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention WISEWOMAN program known at Southcentral Foundation as the Traditions of the Heart research project. She also assists in the management of the Breast and Cervical Health Program at Southcentral Foundation. In 2006, Vanessa was awarded the “Living Our Values” award by Southcentral Foundation. She received her bachelor’s degree in Human Biology with a focus in ethics of health policy from Stanford University in 1999. While at Stanford, she received the Dean of Students Outstanding Individual Achievement Award, as well as the John Milton Okinson Award for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Writing. Vanessa is currently a graduate student in the University of Alaska Anchorage’s School of Public Health where she is working on her thesis titled “Assessing Changes in Attitudes, Beliefs and Behavior in Physical Activity Due to the Traditions of the Heart Intervention”.

Karla Starband, B.S.
Karla Starbard is an Administrative Support IV for Southcentral Foundation. She is of Tlingit Indian descent born in Ketchikan, Alaska and raised in Anchorage.

Karla received her Bachelor’s of Science in Health Ecology from the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she was an Indian Health Services Scholarship recipient. In her undergraduate studies, Karla developed a passion for learning and understanding how society impacts both individual and community health. She was involved in research studies measuring accessibility at public restaurants, buildings and parks with the American’s with Disability Act requirements, as well as researching diminishing Social Security Funds and Child Automobile Safety Laws in the state of Nevada. Karla would like to continue her education and obtain a master’s degree in public health in the near future.

Viola S. Smith, MHA/MBA
Viola Smith is a Research Manager at Southcentral Foundation. She is Cupig born and raised on Nunivak Island Mekoryuk Alaska.

Viola received her Master’s of Healthcare Administration from Seton Hall University in South Orange New Jersey in 2002. Her second Master’s degree in Business Administration was in 2004 from Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage.

She is interested in the well being of the Alaska Native population and she is very interested in learning more about treatments and prevention of healthy families all across Alaska particularly with the Alaskan Native population.

Dorthy Fredenberg
Dorthy Fredenberg is a Research Assistant at Southcentral Foundation’s Research Department. She is Menominee Indian born in Green Bay Wisconsin. Dorthy is currently attending the University of Alaska Anchorage with an interest in Sociology. She has worked for SCF for two years.

Luisa Machuca, M.S.
Luisa Machuca is a Research Associate at Southcentral Foundation. She is Inupiaq & Latina born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised in Nome.

Luisa received her Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2005. She is interested in conducting research that contributes to the treatment and prevention of psychological disorders and health diseases that affect the Native people of Alaska. She is particularly interested in how psychological health affects physical health and vice versa. Luisa hopes in the future to attain a Ph.D. Luisa is leading the Traditions of Healthy Families & Healthy Children/Healthy Communities projects funded by the Native American Research Centers for Health.

Gussie Ivanoff, B.S.
Gussie Ivanoff is an Inupiaq/Yupik Eskimo, born in Anchorage, AK and raised in Unalakleet, AK.

She received her Bachelor’s of Science degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Biological Sciences in 2004. She has always had an interest in health care, beginning with summer internships at the Optometry clinic with Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, recruiting participants for the GOCADAN (Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease among Alaska Natives) study, aiding at the UAF health clinic, and interning at the physical therapy clinic at the Norton Sound Regional Hospital. After completing her degree, she was employed with the Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome, AK for two years. The first year she was the Administrative Assistant to the VP of Hospital Services, and then the Senior Research Associate in the Diabetes Prevention program. Her main duties were data coordination and lifestyle coaching for an IHS-funded program targeting pre-diabetic customers, and presenting diabetes awareness in schools and various workshops. In August 2006, she completed her 10-week internship with First Alaskans Institute at Providence Outpatient Physical Therapy, and now is employed with Southcentral Foundation in the Research Department as a Research Associate. Her plans are to pursue graduate school and receive a Master’s degree in either Physical Therapy or Public Health.

Jennifer Brown, B.A.
Jennifer Brown is a lifelong resident of Alaska, born and raised in Ketchikan. She is of Haida and Tlingit descent.

She received her Bachelor’s degree in December of 2006 with a focus on anthropology. Her interest in health research started during her internship with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington, DC. Following a research semester at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, she joined the Southcentral Foundation Research department as a research associate. She is particularly interested in public perceptions of health concepts and substance abuse treatment. Jennifer is working on the Ethical and Cultural Implications of Specimen Banking among Alaska Native People project and the Family Health History demonstration project.

Jesse Metzger, PhD, MSPH
Jesse Metzger is a Senior Research for Southcentral Foundation. He was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jesse Metzger received his PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health at Chapel Hill in 2007 and his MSPH in epidemiology from the University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Public Health in 2002. His dissertation utilized recent developments in Latent Class Analysis to analyze patterns of physical activity among participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, along with socio-demographic and cardiovascular risk factor differences between these patterns. Previously, he worked as a SAS statistical analyst on numerous projects including a longitudinal study of the effects of childhood abuse and neglect, a physical activity intervention study, and numerous automobile accident and injury studies. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa in 1998. At Southcentral Foundation, he is interested in conducting health services research that will lead to both improved services as well as health outcomes for the Alaska Native population.

2008

Slattery, M.L., Murtaugh, M.A., Schumacher, M.C., Johnson, J., Edwards, S., Edwards, R., Benson, J., Tom-Orme, L., Lanier, A.P. (2008). Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Computerized Self-Administered Diet History Questionnaire for Use in Studies of American Indian and Alaskan Native People. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:101-109.

2007

Helzer, Laurie J., Heitkamp, Kathleen M., Shein, Melissa, Etzel, Ruth A. (2007). Pilot Study of Methods to Measure Saliva Cotinine in Alaska Native Women During Pregnancy. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 66(1), 29-38.

Hiratsuka, Vanessa Y., Loo, Ryan, Will, Julie C., Oberrecht, Rebecca, Poindexter, Patricia. (2007). Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Screening Among Alaska Native Women: The Traditions of the Heart Project. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 66(1), 39-44.

Dillard, Denise, Christopher, Deborah (2007). The Southcentral Foundation Depression Collaborative. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 66(1), 45-53.

Slattery, M.L., Schumacher, M.C., Lanier, A.P., Edwards, S., Edwards, R., Murtaugh, M.A., Sandidge, J., Day, G.E., Kaufman, D., Kanekar, S., Tom-Orme, L. and Henderson, J.A. (2007). A Prospective Cohort of American Indian and Alaska Native People: Study Design, Methods, and Implementation. Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:606–615

Jonas, M. M. (2007). Finding adolescents and young adults with transfusion-associated hepatitis C: looking forward to looking back. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 161(2), 202-203.

Bell, B. P., Negus, S., Fiore, A. E., Plotnik, J., Dhotre, K. B., Williams, J., et al. (2007). Immunogenicity of an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in infants and young children. Pediatr Infect Dis J, 26(2), 116-122.

Cagle, H. H., Jacob, J., Homan, C. E., Williams, J. L., Christensen, C. J., & McMahon, B. J. (2007). Results of a general hepatitis C lookback program for persons who received blood transfusions in a neonatal intensive care unit between January 1975 and July 1992. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 161(2), 125-130.

2006

Smith, H. S., Bjerregaard, P., Chan, H. M., Corriveau, A., Ebbessan, S. O. E., Etzel, R. A., et al. (2006). Research with arctic peoples: unique research opportunities in heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 65(1), 79-90.

2005

2004

2003

Wood, F. B., Sahali, R, Press, N., Libr. M., Burroughs, C., Mala, T. A., et al. (2003). Tribal connections health information outreach results, evaluation and challenges. Medical Library Association, 91(1), 57-66.

2001

Pierce-Bulger, M. & Nighswander, T. (2001). Nutaqsiivik – an approach to reducing infant mortality using quality improvement principles. Quality Management in Health Care, 9(3), 40-46.

Contact Information

Southcentral Foundation
Research Department
4501 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508

(907) 729-4955 phone
(907) 729-5000 fax

Other Links of Interest

Arctic Health
National Institutes of Health – Research Training and Scientific Resources
National Indian Health Board
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – Office of Tribal Affairs
Barrow Arctic Science Consortium
Arctic Peoples – Indigenous Peoples at the Arctic Council
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues