Spero M. Manson, PhD, (Pembina Chippewa) is a distinguished professor of public health and psychiatry, directs the Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health, and occupies the Colorado Trust Chair in American Indian Health within the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Manson and his colleagues' programs include 10 national centers, which pursue research, program development, training and collaboration with 250 Native communities spanning rural, reservation, urban and village settings across the country. He has acquired over $225 million in sponsored research to support this work and published 280 articles and book chapters on the assessment, epidemiology, treatment and prevention of physical, alcohol, drug and mental health problems over the developmental lifespan of Native people.
Widely acknowledged as one of the nation’s leading authorities on American Indian and Alaska Native health, Manson recently received the 2021 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the National Academy of Medicine.
The following interview, in recognition of Oct. 11’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day, was edited for length and clarity.