On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
The Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC) serves 27 tribal communities in a four-state region. Their mission is to collaborate with each of these communities to provide high-quality research, surveillance, and training that will improve the quality of life of Native Americans. In this episode, we continue our series of special sponsored shows focusing on Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TEC). You’ll meet the director of the AASTEC, Dr. Kevin English, who worked as a clinical pharmacist before pursuing a degree in public health. We talk with Dr. English about his internships with the Indian Health Service, their comprehensive approach to pharmacology, and how he went on to work with them as a clinical pharmacist. Dr. English shares what drew him to a primary career in public health, why he felt he was on the wrong end of the healthcare continuum, and how public health gave him an opportunity to pursue meaningful prevention work. We also discuss the AASTEC’s extensive portfolio, what they are doing to enhance access to good data, and how their focus on education is prioritizing the next generation. For an in-depth look at the AASTEC and the important work that they are doing, be sure to tune in today!
Meet Dr. English
Kevin English is the director of the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC) at the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board, Inc., which serves 27 Native American communities in the Southwest. Current AASTEC services are organized around four priority areas— epidemiology, health research, student development, and public health practice. Kevin has been working with tribal communities across the country since 1995 as a researcher, public health practitioner and a clinical pharmacist. He received his doctorate in public health from Columbia University in 2013.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
An introduction to today’s guest, Dr. Kevin English
Dr. English’s upbringing in Connecticut and the long history of pharmacology in his family
How he came to accept a position as a clinical pharmacist with the Indian Health Service
A rundown of the Indian Health Service’s comprehensive approach to pharmacology
What sparked Dr. English’s interest in public health, disease prevention, and health promotion
How Dr. English decided to pursue a degree in public health
An overview of Dr. English’s work today as the director of the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC)
The AASTEC’s diverse portfolio and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic
A rundown of the population that they serve and the primary health problems that they target
Their efforts to honor tribal sovereignty and align with important cultural considerations
The need for high-quality, representative data that is meaningful to the tribes that they serve
A breakdown of the techniques being used to enhance access to good data
Why the overall quality of tribal data needs to be improved
Understanding epidemiology as the study of ‘what is upon the people’
Dr. English’s advice for listeners who may be interested in working with tribal communities
“We’ve been engaged in a number of methods and approaches to make our best effort to create and produce tribe-specific data that really is meaningful and actionable for tribal leadership. And that's really at the heart of what we're trying to do.” — Dr. Kevin English
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DrCHHuntley LLC is a public health consulting firm that specializes in epidemiology consulting, supporting large nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We also provide nationwide public health consulting and epidemiology consulting support to BIPOC organizations across the United States.