Denise Dillard is Iñupiat Eskimo, born and raised in Alaska. She left Alaska for about 10 years to obtain her doctorate in psychology from Colorado State University in 1997. Throughout this time, she maintained her connections to Alaska and Alaska Indian/Alaska Native people through summer psychology internships within the Alaskan tribal health system. Her full-time, pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral position at the University of Colorado Denver then focused on psychological services and research with indigenous peoples. She returned home to work with Southcentral Foundation in 2000 and has taken on a variety of roles in her service to the community. At Southcentral Foundation, she initially worked in clinical and administrative capacities then became the Director of Research in 2008. Denise was AK-PAs first Diversity Delegate and served as President 2009 to 2011.

Bibliography:
Hiratsuka, V.Y., Trinidad, S.B., Ludman, E.J., Shaw, J.L., Burke, W., Robinson, R.F., & Dillard, D.A. (2020). “You actually view us as the experts in our own system”: Indigenous-academic community partnership. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 14(2), 187-195.

Hiratsuka, V.Y., Hahn, M.J., Woodbury, R.B., Hull, S.C., Wilson, D.R., Bonham, V. L., Dillard, D.A., and the Alaska Native Genomics Research Workshop Group. (2020). Alaska Native genomic research: Perspectives from Alaska Native leaders, federal staff, and biomedical researchers. Genetics in Medicine.
https://www.gimjournal.org/article/S1098-3600(21)00819-4/fulltext

Fohner, A., Dalton, R., Skagen, K., Jackson, K., Claw, K., Hopkins, S., Robinson, R., Khan, B., Prasa, B., Schuetz, E., Nickerson, D., Thornton, T., Dillard, D., Boyer, B., Thummel, K., & Woodahl, E. (2021). Characterization of CYP3A pharmacogenetic variation in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Clinical and Translational Science.

McDonell, M.G., Hirchak, K.A., Herron, J., Lyons, J.L., Alcover, K.C., Shaw, J., Kordas, G., Dirks, L.G., Jansen, K., Avey, J., Lillie, K., Donovan, D., McPherson, S.M., Dillard, D., Ries, R., Roll, J., Buchwald, D., for the HONOR Study Team. (2021). Effect of incentives on alcohol abstinence with three American Indian and Alaska Native communities: A multi-site randomized controlled trial. JAMA Psychiatry, e204768.

Schaefer, K.R., Fyfe-Johnson, A.L., Noonan, C.J., Todd, M.R., Umans, J.G., Castille, D.M., Rosenman, R., Buchwald, D., Dillard, D.A., Robinson, R.F., & Muller, C.J. (2021). Home blood pressure monitoring devices: Patient preferences and device performance in an Alaska Native and American Indian population. Journal of Aging and Health, 33(7-8S), 40S-50S.

Shaw, J.L., Semmens, E., Okihiro, M., Lewis, J.L., Hirschfeld, M., VanWagoner, T.M., Stephens, L., Easa, D., Ross, J.L., Graham, N., Watson, S.E., Szyld, E.G., Dillard, D.A., Pyles, L.A., Darden, P.M., Carlson, J.C., McCulloh, R.J., Snowden, J.N., Adeky, S.H., & Singleton, R. (2021). Best practices for conducting clinical trials with indigenous children in the U.S. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306372

Schaefer, K., Avey, J., Todd, M., Beans, J., Dillard, D., Shireman, L., Thornton, T., Tyndale, R., Thummel, K., Robinson, R., & Claw, K. (2021). Nicotine metabolism and its association with CYP2A6 genotype among indigenous people in Alaska who smoke. Clinical and Translational Science, 14(6), 2474-2486. Doi:10/1111/cts.13115. Epub2021 Sep14. PMID:34520119.

Pilishvili T, Gierke R, Fleming-Dutra KE, Farrar JL, Mohr NM, Talan DA, Krishnadasan A, Harland KK, Smithline HA, Hou PC, Lee LC, Lim SC, Moran GJ, Krebs E, Steele MT, Beiser DG, Faine B, Haran JP, Nandi U, Schrading WA, Chinnock B, Henning DJ, Lovecchio F, Lee J, Barter D, Brackney M, Fridkin SK, Marceaux-Galli K, Lim S, Phipps EC, Dumyati G, Pierce R, Markus TM, Anderson DJ, Debes AK, Lin MY, Mayer J, Kwon JH, Safdar N, Fischer M, Singleton R, Chea N, Magill SS, Verani JR, Schrag SJ; Vaccine Effectiveness among Healthcare Personnel Study Team. (2021) Effectiveness of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine among U.S. Health Care Personnel. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021 Sep 22. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2106599. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34551224.

Railey AF, Dillard DA, Fyfe-Johnson A, Todd M., Schaefer K, & Rosenman R. (2022). Choice of home blood pressure monitoring device: The role of device characteristics among Alaska Native and American Indian peoples. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. 2022 Jan 28;22(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s12872-021-02449-w. PubMed PMID: 35090399.

Schaefer, K.R., Todd, M.R., Trinidad, S.B., Robinson, R.F., & Dillard, D.A. (In press). Patient and primary care perspectives on hypertension management: Short report of a qualitative study in a tribal health system. International Journal of Circumpolar Health.

Tonie Protzman, whose Native name, Yethnhahnilats, means “she who makes her life strong,” is an enrolled descendant in the Turtle Clan of the Oneida Nations Tribe in Green Bay, WI. Tonie was raised and remains in Anchorage, Alaska with her Iñupiat Eskimo daughter, Paisley. Protzman holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology (2012) and bachelor’s degrees in Justice and Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She was a PhD Candidate with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Clinical Community Psychology Program with rural and indigenous emphasis, as well. Since graduating with her MS, Protzman has worked in the nonprofit and public sectors of behavioral and mental health. Currently, Protzman is the Program Director at Cornerstone Recovery as well as the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Alaska Chapter. Protzman’s role as ED will be to increase membership, develop the chapter’s strategic/succession plans, and to advocate for social workers in both traditional and non-traditional roles in Alaska and Washington, D.C. She also plans to expand continuing education resources that address cultural trainings specific to social worker licensing requirements, advocate and educate on title protection, and to strengthen local presence and impact around the state of Alaska through nurturing relationships and advocacy work. Protzman’s personal passion is reducing stigma in Alaska communities regarding receiving behavioral and mental health services.

Publications (PEN NAME: Quaintance):

Rivkin, I.D., Lopez, E., Trimble, J., Johnson, S., Orr, E., & Quaintance, T. (2018). Cultural values, coping, and hope in Yup’ik communities facing rapid cultural change. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(1), 1-17.

Rivkin, I., Johnson, S., Lopez, E., Trimble, J., Quaintance, T., & Orr, E. (2017). Yup’ik understanding of stress within the context of rapid cultural change. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(1), 33-52.

Rivkin, ID, Lopez, EDS, Quaintance, TM, Trimble, J, Hopkins, S, Fleming, C, Orr, E, & Mohatt, GV (2012). Value of community partnership for understanding stress and coping in rural Yup’ik communities: The CANHR study. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice.