CO-PRINCIPAL INSTRUCTORS

Mapuana Antonio, DrPH

Dr. Mapuana Antonio is a Native Hawaiian Assistant Professor, with a joint position in Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health at the Office of Public Health Studies and in Human Nutrition at the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. Dr. Mapuana works and conducts research with Native Hawaiian communities, applying the principles of community-based participatory research. Her research takes a holistic approach to health and has primarily focused on general health and resiliency of Native Hawaiians and determinants of health of Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Mapuana is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Ola HAWAII pilot study Ke Ola O Ka 'Āina. The role of 'Āina (land) connectedness in Native Hawaiian health and has served as a co-Investigator for the Papakōlea Hawaiian Homestead Community Health Survey and the Indigenizing the Curriculum: Case Example from the Puni Ke Ola Project. In the past, she has served as a research assistant for 1) PILI (Partnership for Improving Lifestyle Intervention) ‘Ohana Program, an NIH-funded project and a community-based participatory research project that aimed to address obesity and related disparities in Hawai‘i and the larger Pacific, 2) Project PONO (Promoting Optimal Native Outcomes) a community-based participatory project that aimed to better understand maternal stress and coping strategies among women from a rural community in Hawai‘i, and 3) HCCI, a strengths-based and youth led program that aimed to prevent youth suicide and increase early intervention by positively impacting at-risk communities in Hawai‘i. She also has gained international research experience as a scholar in the Māhina International Indigenous Health Research Training.

Jane J Chung-Do, DrPH

PREVIOUS INSTRUCTORS

Mapuana Antonio, DrPH (Summer 2022 and 2024)

Samantha Keaulana-Scott, PhD (Summer 2023)

Samantha is a PhD candidate in University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Public Health program. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. Samantha has experience in facilitating and implementing community-based participatory research projects within predominantly Native Hawaiian communities, including the PILI (Partnerships to Improve Lifestyle Interventions) ‘Ohana Project and the KaHOLO Study. She has worked closely with God’s Country Waimānalo and Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo, non-profit organizations that have initiated culturally grounded projects focused on wholistic wellness, self-sufficiency, and food sovereignty for Native Hawaiians. As a strong proponent for decolonizing methodologies, Samantha has been a part of the Waimānalo Pono Reserach Hui (a community and academic partnership that serves as a space for the community to self-determine priorities of interest in research and other initiatives) since itʻs conception in 2017. Samantha has a strong interest in wāhine (Native Hawaiian women) health, and historical and intergenerational trauma. She understands her role as a budding researcher as her kuleana (responsibility) to serve her Lāhui (Hawaiian Nation) in perpetuity.