Della Keats is a four (4) week, residential program for high school students on the
UAA Anchorage campus. This program is fully funded, including travel, food, and accommodations.
Students will experience university residential life, complete health science-related
pre-college coursework, carry out health-related research projects, and complete at
least four different medical or health care professional job shadows.
Named after Della Keats, an Alaska Native Inupiaq traditional healer from the Kotzebue
region. Della Keats provided both educational and medical services to her people throughout
her life, and believed strongly in the importance of expanding, maintaining, and sharing
medical knowledge in ways that would benefit both Alaska Native people and the broader
Alaskan community. The Della Keats Program is administered by the UAA WWAMI School of Medical Education (Alaska WWAMI).
In this spotlight, John reflects on seeing public health beyond his own specialty, the connections that hold Alaska’s public health community together, and how others may recognize leadership in us before we recognize it in ourselves.
A team led by University of Alaska Anchorage researcher Philippe Amstislavski is exploring how mycelium, the root structure of fungi, can be grown into biodegradable materials that hold similar properties to Styrofoam.
Micah Hahn, M.P.H., Ph.D., associate professor of environmental health in UAA’s Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, is the principal investigator and a co-author on a scientific paper published last month in the journal Environmental Research: Health.
In May 2026, the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) proudly co-sponsored the Pathways to Recovery Conference hosted by the State of Alaska’s Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention (OSMAP).