STEP-UP Alumnus Returns to Study Diabetes

ascc-acnr-matau-faiai

A university graduate student, Mata’uitafā Temukisa Faiai, divides her time between the Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) and LBJ Tropical Medical Center in a study of diabetes .

She’s a research assistant for a study on diabetes, a combined project of the ACNR Health Communications Program, LBJ, Yale University, and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

Ms. Faiai, a Leone High School graduate, obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Chaminade University last year.

This fall, she will begin studies towards her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Thi is is her first exposure to the field as a student in Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP), a national program designed to provide opportunities in individualized research for high school and undergraduate students from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral research, as well as students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

She was introduced to in high school then as a Chaminade freshman, she spent 10 weeks on a summer project exploring the immunological effects of obesity.

She presented their findings at a national research conference, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, and received one of the outstanding awards in the Biochemistry category.

In 2013, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland accepted her as a summer intern under the Office of Minority Health Research Summer Internship program

The following year,  Dr. Mark Schmaedick of ASCC-ACNR, one of the local STEP-UP coordinators, connected her to Dr. Stephen McGarvey of Brown University, who has done extensive research on obesity and type II diabetes in Samoa.

She says, “Working under Dr. McGarvey, I became interested in public health research, which led to my decision to pursue a career in this field. Dr. McGarvey introduced me to Dr. Nicola Hawley of Yale University, one of my main academic mentors with whom I’ve been working closely. My other mentors include Dr. Helen Turner and Dr. Claire Wright of Chaminade and Dr. Nia Aitaoto of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.”

Dr. Hawley recommended Ms. Faiai for the current diabetes research project which brought her home to American Samoa this summer to work with Dr. Micah Van der Ryn of ASCC-ACNR, Dr. Bethel Howard of LBJ, and Dr. Michaela Howells of the University of North Carolina, and Dr. Hawley herself.

“Mata’u has proven herself to be an extremely talented public health researcher,” said Dr. Hawley via email.

“She is inquisitive, thoughtful, and reasoned in her approach to complex health questions. Her commitment to returning to American Samoa to use her skills for the benefit of her own community is infinitely admirable, and I’m excited to see how her excellent training will benefit those around her.”

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