Faculty & Staff

Dr. Fried is an Assistant Professor of Health Science within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies. Her work focuses on identifying the social, nutritional, cultural, and economic underpinnings of health outcomes in terms of both risk and resilience. Dr. Fried's research includes examining the intergenerational impacts of traditional or subsistence foods among Alaska Native mothers and children, traditional food security, and other mixed methods projects related to food environments and health disparities with a commitment to active and meaningful community-driven research. Dr. Fried grew up in Alaska, and prior to coming to UAA she earned her PhD at Northwestern University and has worked on health-related projects in the Chicago area, the Philippines, and in Ecuador. Dr. Fried spends her free time skiing, hiking, berry picking and otherwise enjoying all that Alaska has to offer.

Accessible CV

Publications

Dr. Hahn is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies. Her work focuses on understanding the health impacts of climate change and working with communities to develop strategies for adaptation. Although she is open to projects and collaborations that broadly address environmental health topics, her priority research areas are ecological questions at the center of OneHealth, strategies to improve food security and local food production, and the health co-benefits of climate mitigation. Dr. Hahn is committed to interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and community engagement. She utilizes a variety of methods in her work including geospatial analysis, remote sensing, human surveys, and ecological sampling. Prior to joining UAA, she was an epidemiologist at the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention Climate and Health Program and the Division of Vector-borne Diseases where she developed ecological models related to West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Outside of the research world, she enjoys outdoor adventures of all kinds, growing and foraging whatever is possible in Alaskan soil, and slinging salmon while developing her commercial salmon business. micahbhahn.wordpress.com

 

Lauren Lessard, PhD MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences and a maternal and child epidemiologist at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies.  She has extensive experience developing research protocol and interventions addressing reproductive health disparities and inequities. Her current projects include a PCORI-funded comparative effectiveness study evaluating enhanced prenatal care systems, Project EMBRACE. Dr. Lessard’s previous projects focused on coordinating with practitioners and patients to address key maternal health issues including maternal mental health; obesity and contraception use; racial and cultural humility in clinic settings; adolescent preconception health; and co-morbidities associated with preterm birth.  Prior to her role at UAA, she served as the Research Director for the Fresno County Preterm Birth Initiative- CSU Fresno and Research Scientist for the Central Valley Health Policy Institute- CSU Fresno. 

Dr. Lessard completed her PhD in Public Health at UCLA and her MPH at UC Berkeley in Maternal and Child Health. Prior to completing graduate school, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Suriname, South America and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political and Community Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  She moved to Anchorage in 2017 and in her free time enjoys back country skiing, pack rafting and hiking.  

Publication and Report Samples:

Lessard, L.N., Karasek, D., Ma, S., Darney, P., Deardorff, J., Lahiff, M., Grossman, D. and Foster, D.G., 2012. Contraceptive features preferred by women at high risk of unintended pregnancy. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 44(3), pp.194-200.

Lessard, Lauren N., Emanuel Alcala, and John A. Capitman. "Pollution, poverty, and potentially preventable childhood morbidity in central California." The Journal of pediatrics 168 (2016): 198-204.

Lessard, Lauren Norris. Obesity and Contraception. University of California, Los Angeles, 2014.

African American Infant Mortality in Fresno County

A Report from the California Task Force on the Status of Maternal and Mental Health Care

Anita Moore-Nall an enrolled member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation in Montana. She grew up on the Salish Kootenai and Blackfeet Reservations in Montana. She received her PhD in Earth Sciences in Geology from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana in 2017. Anita’s research for her PhD focused on two abandoned uranium mining districts that were upstream from her home reservation. Anita is a Post-Doctoral fellow at UAA in the College of Health. She is interested in the field of medical geology and how it might be used in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.  Research interests include: medical and environmental geology and geography, cultural earth science, native science and traditional or Indigenous knowledge, one health and water issues related to climate change.

 Accessible CV

 

Mr. Ray serves as a Health Policy Fellow within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies and provides a relational and strategic bridge between ICHS, State Government Entities, and other Non-Government Organizations. Prior to his employment with ICHS, Mr. Ray spent over ten years serving in both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Alaska State Government.  His service with the State includes facilitating the executive level strategic plan to retain and enhance Alaska’s multi-billion dollar military industry as a part of the Alaska Military Force Advocacy and Structure Team.  He is also the Founder of the highly successful outpatient addiction treatment center, Set Free Alaska. Mr. Ray received a Master in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Villanova University.  Mr. Ray has been recognized by the Alaska Journal of Commerce as a 2011 “Top Forty under 40” award recipient and was named by Governor Sean Parnell as one of “The Great Alaskans of 2012”.  When not in the office, he enjoys outdoor adventure sports, rugby, and traveling.

Rebecca has more than 10 years of experience in the environmental sciences, including work at the US Geological Survey Water Resources Division, and a private environmental consulting firm. She most enjoys working with data sets and interpreting the story within the numbers. Her investigations include the subjects of river flow, water quality, meteorology, and air quality, but now she is excited to have the opportunity at ICHS to match observations within our physical environment with social, economic, and health implications. Rebecca earned her BS in environmental science from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. When not exploring data, she enjoys exploring Alaska by boat, plane, bike, and ski, and conversing in rusty Spanish or beginner Russian.