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 Dr. Karina Walters, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma was born and raised in Hollywood, CA. Currently, Dr. Walters is the Katherine Hall Chambers Scholar, Associate Dean for Research, and the Co-Director and Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the University of Washington. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Walters worked as a community-based psychotherapist and served as Commissioner for the Los Angeles County Native American Indian Commission.

Dr. Karina Walters has over twenty-five years of epidemiological research on social, cultural, and historical determinants of health amongst the American Indian and Alaska Native population. The majority of her work is directed towards the urban AIAN population and the LGBT and Two-Spirited populations in the United States. Dr. Walters has since shifted her focus towards the research of HIV/AIDS prevention, diets (diabetes and obesity), and substance abuse amongst the indigenous women population.

Education

Dr. Karina Walters had a poor introduction to school in her early adolescence. She was enrolled as a non-traditional English speaker because of her Native American status, which placed her in lower level classes from the start. In a video interview, Walters recounts how she would work her way up to the high-level courses only to be knocked back down to the remedial classes at the beginning of each school year. This resulted in disjointed schooling as well as, a discouraged student.

After almost failing out of high school, Walter’s credits her continuation of her academic career to that of her athletic career. She was the first of her family to continue onto higher education. Karina Walters attended the University of California, Los Angeles and walked on to their tennis team in 1985. At the time, the UCLA Women’s Tennis team was ranked number one in the nation. Karina Walters continued with the team until she suffered a career-ending injury at the U.S Clay Court Tennis Championships.