Seneca Nation citizen named to Federal Advisory Panel on Native American Health

Rodney Haring, PhD, to serve on American Indian and Alaska Native Health Research Advisory Council

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) faculty member and researcher Rodney Haring, PhD, MSW, has been named to a federal advisory panel that makes recommendations on ways to reduce health disparities among federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Dr. Haring, a member of the Seneca Nation, was appointed as an at-large delegate to the American Indian and Alaska Native Health Research Advisory Council (HRAC), which works with tribal leaders to set priorities and make recommendations to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership regarding Native health programs and policies.

HRAC delegates communicate critical information about research findings and health policy activities to their communities, working to address issues such as poor access to care, high uninsurance rates, under-representation in research, provider competence around traditional practices and diets, and efficacy of health promotion and disease prevention activities. The panel’s activities are coordinated by the HHS Office of Minority Health.

An Assistant Professor of Oncology within the Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at Roswell Park, Dr. Haring holds master’s and doctoral degrees in social work. The recipient of an Academy Health/Aetna Foundation Scholar in Residence Fellowship for 2015, he is also a National Congress of American Indians scholar and an adjunct faculty member at the Native American Research and Training Center at the University of Arizona. A member of the Beaver Clan, Dr. Haring is an enrolled citizen of the Seneca Nation of Indians and resides on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation with his family.

Listen to Dr. Haring discuss cancer health disparities and Native American health research in this interview for RPCI Cancer Talk: roswellpark.org/cancertalk/201501/meet-team-dr-rodney-haring.