Photo of Dr. Kau`i Baumhofer Merritt

Kau`i Baumhofer Merritt, ScD, MPH, MA

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Baumhofer Merritt, ScD, MPH, MA is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Health Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu. Her current work draws on concepts and theories from medicine, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and public health to reduce Native Hawaiian health disparities within a social justice framework. In this way, her work addresses how social and cultural environments are embodied within individuals and manifest as the unequal distribution of disease between populations. Specifically, she is interested in the prevention of cardiometabolic disease through community interventions that aim to reinforce ʻai pono and address the cultural, historical, and social determinants of disease. Dr. Baumhofer Merritt leads us in discussions about these topics as a guest lecturer for the Pacific BHS Program.

She has been awarded the Harvard University Native American Program’s 1665 Caleb Cheeshateaumuck Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from the Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, and the 2016 Dr. Fang-Ching Sun Memorial Award for Work with Vulnerable Populations from The Chan School of Public Health.