A New Path in Diabetes Prevention

When people hear the word research, they usually imagine laboratories and crisp white coats. They picture academics armed with data sets, far-removed from the people or issues they’re studying. for one University of Oklahoma-Tulsa researcher and activist, research looks very different than the traditional model, and her commitment to collaboration and use of research as a means for social change is having a positive impact on Oklahoma and the country.

Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan a George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Community Medicine, Sam K. Viersen Family Foundation Presidential Professor and assistant dean of Community Research at OU-Tulsa. She researches diabetes, Native American health, and chronic disease prevention utilizing a method called community-based participatory research.

https://www.ou.edu/web/news_events/articles/news_2018/a-new-path-in-diabetes-prevention-for-native-american-communitie