Diabetes in Alaska Native people

Submitted by Marie Gilbert
Phone: (907) 474-7412
11/09/05

Type 2 diabetes is increasingly prevalent among Alaska Native people. Julien Naylor, director of the Alaska Native Medical Center’s Diabetes Program in Anchorage, will present a seminar, "Diabetes in Alaska Native People and Among National and International Populations: Changing Environment, Changing Health," on Friday, Nov. 11 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The seminar is courtesy of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research. It is part of the Life Sciences Seminar Series hosted by the Institute of Arctic Biology.

The event is scheduled to run from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. in the Elvey Building, room 214 on the West Ridge of the UAF campus. A campus map showing public parking is available at: www.uaf.edu/campusmap/blue_zone.html . The seminar is free and open to the public.

For more information go to www.iab.uaf.edu/events or call 474-6230.

Naylor, an internist with eight years of experience in the clinical and public health care of Alaska Native people, will address the burden of chronic diseases across the United States and the world. She will also review the dietary practices of Alaska Native people in pre-contact culture and discuss the changing dietary habits of Alaska Native people over the past century and the rising rates of obesity and diabetes. The seminar will address genetic factors that may contribute to the rapid increase in diabetes and will finish with a look at future health interventions.

Naylor received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed a residency in Primary Care Medicine with Yale School of Medicine. She has a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health and a diploma in tropical medicine from the London School of Tropical Medicine.

In Naylor’s capacity as the director of the Alaska Native Medical Center’s Diabetes Program, she travels throughout Alaska working with medical providers, educators, patients and their families to promote the treatment and prevention of diabetes and its complications.

CONTACT:

Gerald Mohatt, Director, Center for Alaska Native Health Research, Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF, 474-6415, ffgvm@uaf.edu

Michelle Dondanville, Program Coordinator and Assistant to the Director, Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR), Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF 474-6230, fnmad1@uaf.edu

Marie Gilbert, Publications and Information Coordinator, Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF, 474-7412, marie.gilbert@uaf.edu