Biomedical Faces of Science

Professor Marjorie Mau, former Chair of JABSOM’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health, is featured as one of the nation's “BioMedical Faces of Science”, by the National Institutes of Health.

The program profiles top scientists, especially those among minority groups, and is intended to inspire children in elementary and secondary schools to consider careers in science and medicine.

Dr. Mau, who headed JABSOM's Department of Native Hawaiian Health from its creation in 2001 through mid-2009, is Co-Director of The Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research. She was a physician aboard the Polynesian Voyaging Society's Hokule'a, during its history-making journey across the Pacific to demonstrate the sailing skills of Hawai'i's first residents.

A film crew from the National Institutes of Health followed Dr. Mau around Honolulu and on Moloka'i, where she treats patients and specializes in research into diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

JABSOM is the only U.S. accredited medical school with a department dedicated to the health of indigenous peoples. Physicians and scientists at the Department of Native Hawaiian Health partner with Alaska Natives in Anchorage, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Island Peoples in California to research and help eliminate health disparities is those populations. Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives and other Pacific Island Peoples are disproportionately affected by diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and associated health risk factors.

Dr. Marjorie Mau has been selected as a role model in her field by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The nationwide "BioMedical Faces of Science" program was established to encourage middle and high school students, especially those from minority backgrounds, to pursue biomedical careers that can improve our understanding of human diseases and the public’s health. Underserved populations suffer greater risk of illness, death from major chronic diseases and poor health care outcomes, says the NIH, stressing that teams of research scientists are needed to solve these health disparities.