SAIO 50 for 50: Dr. Nanibaa’ Garrison
This Week's Spotlight: Dr. Nanibaa’ Garrison ('10, Ph.D. Genetics)
Dr. Garrison (Diné) is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles with appointments in the Institute for Society and Genetics, the Institute for Precision Health, and the Division of Internal Medicine & Health Services Research. She is a teaching faculty for the UCLA genetic counseling masters program, and was previously an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University and Seattle Children’s Research Institute at the University of Washington.
Dr. Garrison is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health K01 career development award to explore perspectives of tribal leaders, physicians, scientists, and policy makers on genetic research with tribes. Her research focuses on the ethical, social, and cultural implications of genetic and genomic research in Indigenous communities. Using community-based research approaches, she engages with tribal communities to develop policies and guidance for tribes. She has multiple publications, most recently, “Rights, Interests & Expectations: Indigenous perspectives on unrestricted access to genomic data” published in Nature Reviews Genetics.
Dr. Garrison is on the advisory board for Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics and the advisory council for the United States Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network. She is also a past recipient of the Anne Ninham Medicine Mentorship Award. In addition to her Stanford degree, she holds a bachelor’s in science in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona.