Faculty & Staff

Technical Faculty 

Janet M. Johnston, PhD, MPH, MS Interim Director, Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies Associate Professor of Epidemiology Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6567 Email: jmjohnston2@uaa.alaska.edu

Janet Johnston, PhD

Dr. Janet Johnston, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, has been appointed as interim director for the Institute of Circumpolar Health Studies (ICHS).  Dr. Johnston received her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998.  She has served as the biostatistician for ICHS since 2011, taking time off in 2016 for a stint with the Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services.  Her current areas of research focus are Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) prevention and health care utilization in homeless populations.  Prior to joining UAA, Dr. Johnston served as Health Research Director and Senior Epidemiologist for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Co-Principal Investigator for the Coordinating Center for the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation.  She also plays violin with the Anchorage Civic Orchestra and in her spare time enjoys running, reading and watching her sons’ sports activities.

Ryan Ray, MPA, MBB Health Policy Fellow Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6518 Email: reray@uaa.alaska.edu

Ryan Ray, MPA, MBB

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.

Micah Hahn, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6577 Email: mbhahn@alaska.edu

Micah Hahn, PhD, MPH

Dr. Hahn is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies. She is focused on applied environmental health research that improves the health of Alaskans. 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. Although she is open to projects and collaborations that broadly address environmental health topics, her priority research areas are Food Security, OneHealth, and Environmental Quality and Sustainability. Underlying all of her work is the assumption that climate change is an environmental, economic, and social issue that is drastically changing how we do and will function as a society on our planet. As a result, her work fundamentally considers how our current systems will function moving forward in a changing environment. Prior to joining UAA, she spent time at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developing 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 preserving the harvest in creative ways.

Amanda Slaunwhite, PhD Director, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies Assistant Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6585 Email: aslaunwhite@uaa.alaska.edu

Amanda Slaunwhite, PhD

Dr. Slaunwhite is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Centre for Alcohol and Addictions Studies within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies. Dr. Slaunwhite is a highly interdisciplinary researcher with a background in health geography. Prior to her move to Alaska, Dr. Slaunwhite led research projects in New Brunswick and British Columbia (Canada) examining the impact of policy reforms on youth exposure to alcohol-related marketing; alcohol-attributed disease and primary health care accessibility in rural and remote communities, and mental health-related hospitalizations by children and youth in Atlantic Canada. She has also contributed to projects at the Mental Health Commission of Canada and University of British Columbia. In her spare time, Dr. Slaunwhite can be found hiking, rock-hounding, or in her metalsmith/lapidary studio.

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Research Staff

Rebecca Van Wyck Research Associate Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6514 Email: rkvanwyck@uaa.alaska.edu

Rebecca Van Wyck

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.

Victoria Barnes, MS Research Associate Office: BOC3 Suite 270 Phone: 907-786-6593 Email: vrbarnes@uaa.alaska.edu

Victoria Barnes, MS

Victoria has had the opportunity to dabble here and there in both therapeutic and research aspects of mental health. In 2013, she graduated with her BA in Psychology from UAA and continued on to receive her MS in Psychology, concentrating in Evaluation, Research, and Measurement, from Capella University. She has an affinity for neuroscience and post-traumatic stress disorder which has shown during her academic career. Victoria has volunteered some of her time to assist in both rat and human studies at UAA and has worked for several years providing therapeutic services to children, families, and incarcerated women. She is ready and enthusiastic to make the official career transition into research to help aid in improving the mental and physical health of Alaskans.

 

ICHS Strategic Advisory Group of Experts

Download a list of current SAGE members (PDF)