Alaska's rural and multi-cultural environment calls for multidisciplinary approaches
to defining health problems and identifying appropriate solutions. The Institute for
Circumpolar Health Studies (ICHS) was established by the Alaska Legislature in 1988 to improve the health of peoples
of Alaska and other circumpolar areas through instruction, information services, and
basic and applied research in health and medicine.
Our applied research focus supports public health planning and provides opportunities
for students to gain research experience. Our faculty and staff have expertise in epidemiologic study design, quantitative and
qualitative analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), community engagement,
evaluation, and facilitation.
Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for UAA’s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Vanessa Hiratsuka shares her hopes for the center’s future.
Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for UAA’s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Britteny Howell shares her journey into geriatrics.
One morning in 2005, psychology alumna Maggie Winston — then a 21-year-old hairdresser and mother of twin boys living in Kenai — woke up feeling cramps between her shoulder blades. Within an hour, she couldn’t walk.
After a two-year hiatus, UAA STEM Day returned to campus on October 1, drawing over 1,500 community members to the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, commonly known as STEM. Attendees, primarily children, enjoyed activities, challenges, demonstrations, tours, and planetarium shows that explored a wide range of STEM topics from biology to robotics.
More than two years into the pandemic, vaccines are widely available and most health measures have been lifted. But there are still Alaskans who have difficulty accessing vaccines or who have continued health risk in spite of them. Sondra LeClair, Health Projects Coordinator, UAA Center for Human Development, discusses vaccine access for individuals with disabilities in Alaska.