Tribal Opioid Technical Advisory Group

Meet the Tribal Opioid Technical Advisory Group Members

Anne-Helene Skinstad

Clinical Professor, Dept. of Community & Behavioral Health, Univ. of Iowa Program Director, The National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center (AIAN/ATTC)

Dr. Skinstad received her Ph.D. and a Psychology degree (equivalent to a Psy.D) from the College of Psychology, University of Bergen in Norway. She served as the Director of The Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) TA program from 2018 until 2022.

Additional Titles: The National American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (AI/AN MHTTC) Program Director, The National American Indian and Alaska Native Prevention Technology Transfer Center (AI/AN PHTTC) Program Director, The National American Indian and Alaska Native Child Trauma TSA Center

Dr. Skinstad was the chief psychologist for the first in-patient treatment unit for women with substance use and mental health disorders and their children at the Hjellestad-Clinic in Bergen, Norway. Her research and clinical interests have been on SUD in women with co-occurring mental health disorders. Over the last 20 years, she has overseen the development of different workforce development initiative in Native communities, as well as training curricula on prevention, treatment and assessment of substance use and mental health disorders with different populations. Furthermore, she has directed the cultural adaptations of different curricula to Native American tribal communities.

Christina Arrendondo

Medical Director, Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Dr. Arredondo’s interests lie in public health capacity building, Native health, data management, addiction services, integration of culture into a medical model of care, and helping bring about behavioral change.

Dr. Arredondo worked in mental health treatment and research in San Francisco and Stanford University and has worked in inpatient care, outpatient care, and emergency care. She received her BA in Psychology from Carleton College, her MD at University of Washington, and Psychiatry Residency and Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale University.

David Begay

Associate Research Professor, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, College of Pharmacy, Community Environmental Health Program

Dr. Begay was raised with the deep cultural knowledge, tradition, and language of the Dine’ (Navajo) people. He is a member of the Dine’ Hatallii (Spiritual and Herbal Healers) Association. David is a disabled combat Vietnam veteran. He is also currently a member of the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board (IRB) appointed by the Navajo Nation Council.

David Begay, Ph.D. is currently working with several federally-funded health research projects. David is a former adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He is also a former professor and academic dean for Dine’ (Navajo Nation) College. He is currently VP for the Indigenous Education Institute, Friday Habor, WA. He has worked with NSF and other federal projects including NASA for 20 plus years, JPL, and Goddard Space Flight Center on Heliophysics educational outreach. David is considered a tribal elder and provides cultural consultant services to many organizations and corporations both in the United States and internationally.

Dawn Lee

Owner/director of Dawn Lee Consulting, LLC

Ms. Lee is currently working for numerous tribal communities as an operations consultant to start new Behavioral Health and Opiate treatment programs to bring healing to those communities using an integrative healthcare model. Dawn is a member of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, Washington State Association for Treatment of Opioid dependence (WSATOD) and the Seven Directions Opioid Treatment Advisory Group at the University of Washington.

Dawn Lee has been working in the field of substance use disorders since 1999. She is licensed in Washington State as a Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP). She has been working in tribal communities since 2004 and was the visionary for the didgʷálic Wellness Center for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

In addition to her work as a SUDP, she developed multiple programs within the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community which increased her staff from 6 employees to 90. For her work at didgʷálic her team won the Portland Area Indian Health Service Leadership Award, Recognition of Excellence Award, and the Indian Health Service Directors Awards.

Dennis Donovan

Professor Emeritus, University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Prior to moving to the UW, Dr. Donovan served as Associate and Acting Director of the first Center of Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education (CESATE) within the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also served as President of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, among other distinctions.

Dr. Donovan has over 35 years’ experience as a direct service provider, clinical trainer/supervisor, treatment program administrator, and clinical researcher. He served for 25 years as Director of the UW Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Psychology, Health Services, and Global Health. He also served as Associate Director with UW Center for AIDS Research Behavioral Sciences Core, Principal Investigator of the Pacific Northwest Node of the NIDA National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network, and Co-Director of the Information Dissemination Core and the Pilot Project Core for Native Center for Alcohol Research and Education (NCARE). He also served on the External Advisory Committee for the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity (CAIRHE) at Montana State University.

Kevin English

Director, the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC)

Dr. English is the director of AASTEC, which serves 27 Native American communities in the Southwest. Current AASTEC services are organized around four priority areas— epidemiology, health research, training, and public health practice. He has been working with tribal communities across the country since 1995 as a researcher, public health practitioner and a clinical pharmacist. Dr. English received his doctorate in public health from Columbia University in 2013.‍

Dr. English is the director of AASTEC, which serves 27 Native American communities in the Southwest. Current AASTEC services are organized around four priority areas— epidemiology, health research, training, and public health practice. He has been working with tribal communities across the country since 1995 as a researcher, public health practitioner and a clinical pharmacist. Dr. English received his doctorate in public health from Columbia University in 2013.

Matthew Town (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

Assistant Professor of Social Work, Portland State University

Before pursuing academics, Dr. Town held positions at the Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center and the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center. His on-going scholarly interests include stress coping processes, resilience, Indigenous methodologies, health and well-being, and social and cultural determinants of health.

Matthew Town, PhD, MPH, is an Indigneous/multiracial scholar committed to interrupting legacies of trauma that affect marginalized communities. His work centers culture and diversity science to the health and well-being of people. Dr. Town received his MPH in Global Health from Oregon State University, and his PhD in Sociology from Portland State University. Before joining Portland State University’s School of Social work, Dr. Town was an Assistant Professor at Pacific University, a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, and briefly held a postdoctoral position at the University of California, San Diego.

Nathan Billy

Director of Behavioral Health Programs National Indian Health Board

Mr. Billy is currently completing his PhD dissertation, which focuses on Choctaw cultural identity as a source of strength and resilience in recovery from substance use disorders.

Nathan Billy serves as Director of Behavioral Health Programs for the National Indian Health Board. Mr. Billy is a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has previously served his nation as both a Licensed Professional Counselor and Deputy Director of Behavioral Health. Mr. Billy’s therapeutic and administrative experience includes a specific focus on substance use disorders; opioid prevention, treatment and recovery initiatives; suicide prevention, screening and assessment; and integrating behavioral healthcare in both clinical and tribal law enforcement settings. Mr. Billy is currently completing his PhD dissertation, which focuses on Choctaw cultural identity as a source of strength and resilience in recovery from substance use disorders.

Sandra Momper

Associate Professor Emerita of Social Work, University of Michigan

Dr. Momper’s research interests include substance abuse, suicide prevention and intervention, and reducing health disparities among rural and urban American Indians/Alaska Natives.

Dr. Momper’s research interests include substance abuse, suicide prevention and intervention, and reducing health disparities among rural and urban American Indians/Alaska Natives.

Dyani Bingham, MPH

TECPHI Project Manager, Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council – Tribal Epidemiology Center

Dyani Bingham (Assiniboine/Blackfeet/Little Shell) is a graduate of North Dakota State University, earning an MPH with a focus on American Indian health. She has a background in public health, tourism, tribal health policy, peer to peer recovery support, obesity prevention, physical activity promotion, breast and cervical health, commercial tobacco use prevention, native art marketing and development, media relations, and historic preservation.

Dyani Bingham (Assiniboine/Blackfeet/Little Shell) is a graduate of North Dakota State University, earning an MPH with a focus on American Indian health. She has a background in public health, tourism, tribal health policy, peer to peer recovery support, obesity prevention, physical activity promotion, breast and cervical health, commercial tobacco use prevention, native art marketing and development, media relations, and historic preservation. She currently works in project management at the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council Epidemiology Center, which serves the Tribes in MT and WY and is in Billings, MT through epidemiology and public health infrastructure. Dyani has worked on Indigenous-focused evaluation, obesity prevention, evaluation for the arts, and recovery related initiatives. She is the Vice-Chair of the MT Public Health Institute and Secretary/Treasurer for the MT-WY Native American Chemical Dependency Directors Association. Ms. Bingham is a proud mother, grandma, auntie, and daughter who enjoys spending time with family and friends, baking, gardening, listening to music and visiting hot springs. She is extremely interested in research and policy reforms that are rooted in healing to advance wellness for Native people and communities.

Tribal Opioid Use Disorders Prevention

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