https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/blog daily 0.75 2026-08-13 https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/blog/blog-post-one-giving-day-2021-cxnrb monthly 0.5 2026-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/3ed7e06c-87f5-488d-ace8-be003c5a9e18/IMG_1656.JPG Blog - Support Efforts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/4b2e0246-2929-449f-846a-ad729f3a4e4b/20150807_111846.jpg Blog - Support Efforts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/443ac639-0207-43bf-9d1d-608562f72100/20150206_112019.jpg Blog - Support Efforts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/donate daily 0.75 2020-11-23 https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/our-team daily 0.75 2025-08-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/6879dcca-f612-4f0a-b4a2-6c1f68bb06b5/Dr.+Egede+3.jpg Our Team - Leonard Egede, MD, MS President Dr. Leonard Egede is a general internist, Professor of Medicine, the Charles and Mary Bauer Endowed Chair, and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (UB). Additionally, Dr. Egede is the President and CEO of UBMD Internal Medicine Practice Plan. He completed his medical training at the University of Benin in Nigeria, his residency training at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Maryland, and a Master of Science degree at the Medial University of South Carolina. Dr. Egede's research has focused on developing and testing innovative interventions to reduce and eliminate health disparities related to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location for chronic medical and mental health conditions. He is currently the PI of five NIH R01s focused on interventions that address social determinants of health and improve health outcomes for adults with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Egede also has extensive experience using health systems research to initiate change and incorporating evidence-based care into clinical environments. Dr. Egede has expanded the work he has done in the United States globally through efforts to provide care and empowerment of indigenous communities, promote collaborative research projects with investigators in other countries, and develop innovative strategies to improve outcomes for non-communicable diseases, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. He founded IHI in 2013 and has served on the Board and travelled to indigenous communities throughout the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606164972848-I1JUI8H4NQ2ALRINQKQU/pnnadi.png Our Team - Patricia N. Nnadi, MD Vice President Dr. Patricia Nnadi is a board certified psychiatrist with a particular interest in severe and persistent mental illness in adults. Dr. Nnadi completed her residency training in psychiatry at the University of Maryland in 1999. Subsequently, she completed fellowship training in eating disorders at the same institution in 2000. Upon moving to South Carolina that same year, Dr. Nnadi worked as a staff psychiatrist for the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center, becoming the Center's Medical Director in May 2003. In January 2009 she transitioned to the role of a Consulting Psychiatrist on a Duke Endowment grant secured by the SC Department of Mental Health. The grant was designed to provide emergency room consultations in geographic areas in the state lacking psychiatrists. This program has grown and evolved into the DMH Telepsychiatry Service, where Dr. Nnadi and other psychiatrists deliver emergency room consultation across the state of South Carolina. Dr. Nnadi has served on the IHI Board of Directors since its founding in 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606166332941-15H5HCMSIOBYG1S31PWQ/tatiana.png Our Team - Tatiana M. Davidson, PhD Dr. Tatiana Davidson is a tenured Professor of Nursing and Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is the Endowed Chair of Innovation in Behavioral Health and director of the Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Nursing in the College of Nursing. Dr. Davidson received her BS from the University of Washington and MA and PhD from Clark University, and completed her internship and NIMH postdoc at MUSC. Dr. Davidson’s research has focused mainly on maximizing the reach and receipt of evidence-based mental health treatments among trauma-affected youth and their families through the development, evaluation, and dissemination of innovative, technology-based resources. Dr. Davidson is PI on an active Duke Endowment grant (through 2020) to implement TRRP in three partnering trauma centers across South Carolina. She serves as Co-Investigator on several federally-funded research grants focused on the development, evaluation and implementation of mHealth technologies (e.g., smartphone, tablet, computer) for providing best-practice mental health treatment to a wide range of traumatic stress populations, including disaster victims, child abuse victims, and first responders. A second major research focus is on addressing mental health care disparities among racial/ethnic minority populations through the development and evaluation of culturally-modified, evidence-based interventions. She has been awarded both external and internal grants to examine how cultural variables can influence formal mental health treatment seeking, access and completion among Latinx populations, and to adapt evidence-based resources to mobile health delivery formats to reduce traditional barriers to mental health treatment among Latinx youth and families. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/ad93f795-1a06-4e11-88c3-b9339bbf32a8/Dismuke.jpg Our Team - Clara "Libby" Dismuke-Greer, PhD Dr. Clara "Libby" Dismuke-Greer is a Research Health Science Specialist at the Health Economics Resource Center (HERC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where she has worked since 2019. Her methodological expertise spans economic evaluation, statistical and econometric modeling, disability research, and the analysis of health disparities among vulnerable populations, including work with VA and Department of Defense health system databases. She currently serves as Principal Investigator on the Health Economics Study for the DoD/VA-funded Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC) Award, and holds funding on a number of additional NIH, VA, and DoD grants. Dr. Dismuke-Greer has served as a researcher on detail to the Chief of the VA Office of Health Equity, contributing to evaluation and policy work aimed at reducing inequities in health services and outcomes for U.S. veterans, and she has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications over the course of her career. Her recent work includes research on the economic impact of comorbid traumatic brain injury and dementia on veterans' health care costs, and she has developed new expertise analyzing Department of Defense treatment facility utilization and costs. Her sustained contributions to health economics and veteran health equity research make her a valuable voice on the board. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/home daily 1.0 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1602790017733-U9POQH7AF04G89HLVOTD/AdobeStock_271565809.jpeg Home - Panamá - Kuna Click here to learn more about our partnership in Kuna Yala, Panamá https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cdb0b54755be25d5d92bfb3/1559252207571-LZCNVW6ZFPOBOLJS7EC4/image-asset.jpeg Home - Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya Click here to learn more about our partnerships in Kenya https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606519637401-W8QB8ZZBEO6YWWA96I8Y/IMG_8039.jpg Home - Sub-Saharan Africa - Malawi Click here to learn more about our partnership in Malawi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606519743815-MVNX6OERN2Q2M2GGI3SN/20190626_105759.jpg Home - Panamá - Ngabe Bugle Click here to learn more about our partnership in Ngabe Bugle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606519873467-A9ANOWX1NTUQ5HQPQZ4X/20180807_110250.jpg Home - Panamá - Embera Ipeti Click here to learn more about our partnerships in Embera Ipeti https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606520010269-EWH63GD31WBGBXE4J4P3/20180808_130301.jpg Home - Panamá - Kuna Ipeti Click here to learn more about our partnership with the Kuna Ipeti https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/our-vision daily 0.75 2020-11-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cdb0b54755be25d5d92bfb3/1559252583038-QURCP604WRJD3H6G5GO8/justice-rising-ECHO-AND-EARL-23.jpg Our Vision - Who We Are. Indigenous Health International (IHI) is a United States IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to meet the health care needs of indigenous communities around the world. IHI believes that to meet the health care needs of indigenous communities around the world, we need to partner with them and treat their physical, mental, and social needs in a way that respects their past and provides for their future. We believe that health care for indigenous peoples needs to also address the social determinants of health which underlie the poor health in these communities. Thus, we also work with our partners to improve education, sanitation, and environmental health. Just like our logo, we serve to unlock resources and open doors to healthcare for indigenous people around the world. Why We Care. The nearly 400 million indigenous peoples live in over 70 countries around the world are some of the most marginalized and neglected people on our planet, accounting for about 15% of the world’s poor though only 5% of it’s population. Malnutrition, infant mortality, unsafe water supplies, poor living conditions, and restricted access to health care services, unfortunately mark similarities between indigenous people living across the globe from each other. Layered on this is the fact that indigenous peoples define health more broadly than simply physical wellbeing or absence of disease. This often puts well-meaning efforts to provide health care to indigenous peoples at odds with their beliefs and cultures. Our Guiding Principles. Some of our core principles are: 1) to provide direct medical care while recognizing that health is more than just absence of disease; 2) to adopt a ‘do no harm’ strategy by considering unintended consequences and long-term impact of our actions; and 3) to respect the cultural heritage of those we work with and meet their needs within that context. Leonard E. Egede, MD, MS Founder and CEO https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/panam-kuna-ipeti daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606519098655-967COEUUEWEMKFAZKBL8/20180808_130301.jpg Panamá - Kuna Ipeti Panamá - Kuna Ipeti IHI has established partnerships with mainland communities located a few hours by road from Panamá City. The Kuna Ipeti community experiences extreme levels of poverty and has very limited access to health services and routine care. IHI has conducted an initial needs assessment with the community. Onsite outreach and planning have been tremendously impacted by COVID-19. IHI has tentative plans to return these communities in 2021 and 2022. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/subsaharan-african-malawi daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606517755696-1OU0U3AO1542L6K8P09N/IMG_8039.jpg Sub-Saharan African- Malawi Sub-Saharan Africa - Malawi Malawi, located in Southeastern Africa, is home to approximately 18 million people. Malawi is a landlocked country and is neighbored by Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. Malawi is low-income country with an estimated per capita income of $1,180. Malawi as a country experiences undue burden of poor health due to high prevalence of infectious and non-communicable diseases including HIV/AIDs, stroke, and diabetes. In 2019, IHI began developing dual partnerships across Malawi. The team visited several counties and met with several government and health officials to discuss local health priorities and to set an agenda for addressing key areas of need over the next 5 years across each country. Several priorities were identified that included: Training Community Health Workers to go into the community to provide health education. Conduct population study to include screening for chronic disease, including diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. Developing programs that involve task shifting and training nurses to provide interventions that enable medication titration. Pilot data was collected to identify key social determinants of health that are impacting health and well-being across representative communities in each country. Next steps include analyzing our findings to share in preparation for our next onsite visit that will inform the development of long-term capacity building efforts across each country. Sources: Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Global Health – Kenya; Global Health – Malawi. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/subsaharan-africa-kenya daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606517955825-QAUWYPAR5KGBU4E5XCS4/IMG_4317.JPG Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya Subsaharan Africa - Kenya Kenya, located in East Africa, is home to approximately 46 million people. Kenya sits on the coast of the Indian Ocean and is neighbored by Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. As a low-income country with an estimated per capita income of $1,640, Kenya faces many health challenges that span infectious and non-communicable diseases. Demographic transitions are taking place in Kenya as treatment for HIV advances and becomes more widely available. However, while life expectancy is increasing, other non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are also increasing. In 2019, IHI began developing dual partnerships across Kenya. The team visited several counties and met with several government and health officials to discuss local health priorities and to set an agenda for addressing key areas of need over the next 5 years across each country. Several priorities were identified that included: Training Community Health Workers to go into the community to provide health education. Conduct population study to include screening for chronic disease, including diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. Developing programs that involve task shifting and training nurses to provide interventions that enable medication titration. Pilot data was collected to identify key social determinants of health that are impacting health and well-being across representative communities in each country. Next steps include analyzing our findings to share in preparation for our next onsite visit that will inform the development of long-term capacity building efforts across each country. Sources: Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Global Health – Kenya; Global Health – Malawi. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/panam-kuna daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606518423822-TR4UQ17WRHED92WDER1V/20180806_140539.jpg Panamá - Kuna Panamá - Kuna Indians The Kuna represent the second largest indigenous group in Panamá located on both the mainland, primarily in rural mountainous regions, and off the coast throughout the region of the San Blas Islands. Like many other indigenous populations around the world, the Kuna Indians have suffered a history of marginalization and isolation that has resulted in poor health and limited access to care. Due to the remote location of many of the Kuna communities and a history of distrust, population health and access to care remain suboptimal. A governing body of the Kuna Indians is the Kuna Congress. IHI has worked with the Kuna Congress since 2012 to develop programs that will meet the health care needs of indigenous communities in Panamá. In partnership with the Panamá Ministry of Health, IHI has conducted needs assessments while also delivering care to improve health services throughout the indigenous communities in Panamá. Ustupu represents our first partnered site, which is part of the forestall mountain range system of San Blas and is located in the border of Ailigandi. Ustupu is known for being one of the largest communities in the Comarca (area). Among the historical sector it represents the land of the great lider of Cuna Nele Kantule. The community has sewer systems, a medical center, a school, and an active local congress (Onmaked Nega), among other institutions. The community has an approximate population of 3,500. Based on an initial needs assessment of Ustupu, IHI found that among the community, 60% of the population of Ustupu reported being food insecure and most adults and children only eat one meal per day. In response, IHI worked with the community leaders to develop a capacity building effort to facilitate farming and the production of food within the community. The objectives included: 1) Implement areas of agricultural production in Ustupu, community of Ustupu Cunayala; 2) Strengthen the knowledge base of the proper agricultural procedures for the staff that will be working on the project in Abnadi. In response to the need, IHI raised $7,000 from donors that provided direct support to the community to meet the project objectives. The $7,000 was used to initiate farming practices while also providing the transportation back and forth for ongoing farming. The farming project today has resulted in increased crop production and capacity to promote food security. IHI has since established partnerships with mainland communities located in the mountainous region known as the Ngabe Bugle community, one of the largest indigenous groups in the country of Panamá. The Ngabe Bugle community experience extreme levels of poverty and have very limited access to health services and routine care. IHI has conducted an initial needs assessment with the community. Onsite outreach and planning have been tremendously impacted by COVID-19. IHI has tentative plans to return these communities in 2021 and 2022. Sources: Aguilar R, Garcia-Huidobro G. Socio economic and demographic characteristics key social policy issues to alleviate their poverty. Santiago-Gothenburg. Panamá: Indigenous peoples; 2001. Howe JA. People who would not kneel: Panamá, the United States, and the San Blas Kuna. Smithsonian series of ethnographic inquiry. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press; 1998. Campbell JA, Walker RJ, Dawson AZ, Egede LE. Prevalence of Diabetes, Prediabetes, and Obesity in the Indigenous Kuna Population of Panama. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities. 2019 Aug 15;6(4):743-51. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/panam-ngabe-bugle daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606518672911-KBN58AVS11RDCPITVZCS/20190626_105759.jpg Panamá - Ngabe Bugle Panamá - Ngabe Bugle IHI has established partnerships with mainland communities located in the mountainous region known as the Ngabe Bugle community, one of the largest indigenous groups in the country of Panamá. The Ngabe Bugle community experience extreme levels of poverty and have very limited access to health services and routine care. IHI has conducted an initial needs assessment with the community. Onsite outreach and planning have been tremendously impacted by COVID-19. IHI has tentative plans to return these communities in 2021 and 2022. https://indigenoushealthinternational.net/panam-embera-ipeti daily 0.75 2020-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f888d3553a3b0423845d987/1606518945286-NYJE02K9PVTQP77RLP2F/20180807_110250.jpg Panamá - Embera Ipeti Panamá - Embera Ipeti IHI has established partnerships with mainland communities located a few hours by road from Panamá City. The Embera Ipeti community experiences extreme levels of poverty and has very limited access to health services and routine care. IHI has conducted an initial needs assessment with the community. Onsite outreach and planning have been tremendously impacted by COVID-19. IHI has tentative plans to return these communities in 2021 and 2022.