Biography
Joel is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, originally from Shiprock, NM. He joined the Center as a Research Associate in September of 2021. Joel oversees the management and coordination of the Center’s Cancer Care Project, which aims to address disparities in cancer education, care access, and outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities.
Prior to joining the Center, Joel was a medical and surgical assistant at Vanguard Skin Specialists in Colorado Springs, CO which specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer. He was also a fellow with the Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations (CEESP) Program through the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a Research Associate with Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan, an Epidemiologist with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center, and Data Manager/Analyst with the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity & Diabetes (LEAD) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Given Joels clinical and research background, he aspires to advance health equity, strengthen public health systems, and build public health infrastructure with particular focus on AIAN communities.
Joel received his BA degree in Biochemistry from Colorado College in 2014. He then received his MPH degree in Hospital & Molecular Epidemiology and Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Infection Prevention & Control from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2018. More recently, Joel completed the Graduate Public Health Training Certificate for American Indian Health Professionals through Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2021.
When Joel is not in the office, he enjoys traveling with his partner, spending quality time with his family, and enjoys the Colorado outdoors.
Joel is based in Denver, CO.