17 Sep Building trust with a Native community

By Mary Ellen Gabriel, UW School of Medicine and Public Health

From their home near the forested lakes of Mole Lake, Wisconsin, the tribal council of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (SCC) traveled to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where they were welcomed by health sciences and biomedical researchers and staff.

In a historic meeting on September 11-12, the group discussed collaborating on clinical trials and health data collection, along with strategies to improve health within the SCC Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Visits to UW’s campus by a full tribal council are extremely rare, and tribal chairman Robert VanZile, Jr. praised the School of Medicine and Public Health and Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin for allowing opportunities like these to unfold. He also underscored the need for action.

“This concept came out of a dream to help our people,” said VanZile. “We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. One of the ways we do that is by having our people here, talking with all of you at this table.”

The relationship began almost a year ago, with a phone call from the tribe’s chief information officer, Jason Neilitz, to Kurt Zimmerman, who leads the school’s Office of Biohealth Industry Partnerships. Neilitz had just learned that Wisconsin’s new federal designation as a regional Biohealth Tech Hub was expected to bring substantial investments in personalized medicine and biohealth technology. Read more…