Research Focus

As a native Chamoru Pacific Islander of Guam, I am one of the very few on Guam who conducts research on obesity and lifestyle factors impacting breast cancer risk, and child obesity prevention among Pacific Islanders. My academic background is in nutrition and dietetics; and when initially hired as a faculty at UOG, my primary role assignment was in extension and community outreach, not research. During those first years at UOG when my research activities were minimal due to my assignment, my extension and outreach experiences with the various community groups on Guam exposed me to the status of nutrition, health and chronic disease disparity issues on Guam. My first funded post-graduate research experience was through the U56 MI/CCP partnership grant between the University of Guam and University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center. I collaborated with Dr. Suzanne Murphy and Dr. Rachel Novotny on a funded pilot project entitled “Evaluation of risk factors for chronic disease among adults in Guam”. My research work on this pilot project led to several abstracts/presentations and publications. In April 2008, I was also honored with the distinction of a “Rising Star” in the National Cancer Institute Minority Institution Cancer Center Partnership Program. I then went on to collaborate with Dr. Rachel Novotny on several other funded research grants including a USDA/NIFA-funded project entitled “Children’s Healthy Living Program for Remote Underserved Populations of the Pacific Region (CHL)”; and a U54 MI/CCP full project entitled “Development of a Breast Cancer Risk Model for the Pacific (BRISK)”. Results have already been published in several manuscripts, and three other manuscripts are in process. The goal of the CHL Project was to prevent young child obesity through community-based prevention programs, based on local needs assessments that identify culturally and economically sustainable approaches. A continuation of the CHL Project, which was completed in 2017, was funded by USDA to conduct a five-year follow-up. I am also finishing up an NIMHD-funded U24 Grant (1U24MD011201-01), to study cardiometabolic diseases among a cohort of U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islanders from both Guam, Pohnpei, and Palau. Currently, I am serving as the University of Guam Contact PI for the U54 PIPCHE grant with the UH Cancer Center, where I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Neal Palafox for the past seven years. In July of 2018, I was designated as Director for the UOG Cancer Research Center; and in January 2019 I was promoted to the position of Vice Provost of Research and Sponsored Programs at the University of Guam. In November 2023, I moved back to the UOG College of Natural and Applied Sciences, where I am now Dean/Director.