FOCUS
Breanna’s passion lies in promoting Indigenous wellbeing, health sovereignty, and self-determination in HIV syndemic prevention. Data shows a rise in syndemic HIV, HCV, STI, and substance-use outcomes across Tribal communities, especially among individuals with multiple marginalized identities. The current settler-state prevention policies and health strategies, rooted in hegemonic colonial discourse, have not been successfully implemented in most Tribal communities. To address these issues, Breanna’s research will use methodologies that promote Tribal advisory engagement and Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing. With collaborative research, she hopes to identify an adaptable foundation for HIV syndemic prevention strategies rooted in Indigenous values, develop a research infrastructure that prioritizes Indigenous knowledge systems and data sovereignty, and translate findings into policy that catalyzes health liberation and ends the syndemic in Tribal communities in the U.S.
MORE ABOUT BREANNA
Breanna’s pursuit of health liberation, sovereignty, and community-driven solutions is fueled by the minoritization and forced assimilation of her community. As a queer Indigenous woman, her intersectional identity and experiences inform research through multidimensional reflexivity, longitudinal collaboration, shared power, and cultural humility.
