The traditions, strengths, and resilience of communities have carried Indigenous peoples for generations. Drs. O’Keefe and Haroz will discuss the development and dissemination of “Our Smallest Warriors, Our Strongest Medicine: Overcoming COVID-19,” a children’s book aimed at providing indigenous communities public health education and a mental health coping resource. This lecture will discuss the power of Indigenous storytelling and cultural strengths to maintain physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emily E. Haroz, MA, MHS, PhD is a psychiatric epidemiologist by training, with expertise in research design and methodology and implementation science. She completed her Master’s and Doctorate in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Haroz currently serves as the director of mental and behavioral health research methods at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, where she works on projects related to suicide prevention and mental health services research.

Victoria M. O’Keefe, PhD (Cherokee and Seminole Nations of Oklahoma) is the inaugural Mathuram Santosham Chair in Native American Health at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. O’Keefe is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of International Health (Social and Behavioral Interventions Program), an Associate Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, and a Licensed Psychologist. Her community-based participatory research (CBPR) with Indigenous communities focuses on strengths-based and culturally-informed suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and wellness.