Grand Canyon Times

The Phoenix Bioscience Core held its second Tribal Leaders Summit on Nov. 3-4, with a focus on advancing the public health of Native American Tribes in Arizona.

The Phoenix Bioscience Core is home to the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, and the theme highlighted the UArizona Health Sciences' initiatives that support public health, the school said in a release.

"We need to give tribal leaders, as heads of state, the opportunity to engage with institutions of higher learning, because we play a key role," said Levi Esquerra, Senior Vice President of UA's Office of Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement, which planned the event. "When these discussions happen, our minds are blown because we can see the opportunities, and then the university isn't doing business as usual – we're actually consulting with and listening to tribes and expanding our resources."

UArizona President Robert C. Robbins said the focus should be on improving relations between the school and its tribal partners. 

"The bottom line of it all has always been, how can the University of Arizona serve your nation, your people, your students better than we're doing now?" he said. "In the five years that I've been at the U of A, we've made progress, but we still have a lot of work to do."

Timothy Nuvangyaoma, chairman of the Hopi Tribe, said the university was fulfilling its mission.

"Historically, Native American tribes have been told a lot of things and, sadly, they're not followed through on," he said to Robbins. "I don't see that under your leadership."

Michael D. Dake, senior vice president for health sciences, said UA takes its work with the tribal community seriously.

"At the University of Arizona, these are not just buzzwords – it's part of our mission; we take it very seriously," he said. "We're passionate about educating the next generation of health care professionals to provide compassionate, culturally competent care and sensitive care to healthier communities, especially our tribal communities in Arizona."

Leaders at the summit also had the chance to meet with representatives from other UArizona Health Sciences programs that offer components that serve tribal communities. Tribal leaders also toured the Center for Simulation and Innovation, a state-of-the-art set of labs aimed at providing real-world training for medical students. The tour focused on the potential training opportunities could receive at UA, the release stated.

The summit ended with a luncheon presented by the UA Indigenous Resilience Center that honored the work of four recipients working to make a positive impact in tribal communities to create healthy environments. In his closing remarks, Esquerra reminded those at the event to turn the conversation into action.

"If nothing happens and you wait until next year, we didn't get anywhere," he said. "Build on those conversations you've had and commit yourself to step up and make something happen."