Myra Parker, JD, MPH, PhD

Myra Parker, JD, MPH, PhD, is an enrolled member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes and serves as an Associate Professor in the Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behavior in the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer for Seven Directions, as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.

She also serves as Co-Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute’s Tribal Protocols and Ethics Division. She has worked for fourteen years on tribal public health program implementation, coordination, and research with tribal communities in Arizona, Idaho, and Washington.  Prior to her work in research, she worked for five years in the policy arena within Arizona state government, in tribal governments, and with tribal working groups at the state and national level. Her research experience in public health involves Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and disparities research. 

Dr. Parker serves as Co-Investigator on an ETHICS project to culturally adapt a human subjects curriculum for tribal communities; a national epidemiology research study grounded in CBPR involving twenty-five tribal colleges and universities to establish alcohol, tobacco, and drug use rates within their respective communities through a mixed methods approach; and, an NIAAA R01 research study investigating the effectiveness of a culturally-adapted version of the BASICS intervention and a policy intervention. 

As an enrolled member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, Myra is aware of the historical health practices and misconduct perpetuated on tribes in the United States. Her background in law and policy has informed a broader understanding of the principles of ethics as well as honed her ability to identify methods to address the disparities in research control and access through the use of formalized agreements