Merle Kataoka-Yahiro, DrPH, MPH, MS, APRN

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Biography

Dr. Merle R. Kataoka-Yahiro is a professor and researcher in academia for more than 30 years. Her research trajectory has been in the area of health disparities research with vulnerable populations including women, children, older adults, and minority populations with chronic conditions.

In the past 12 years, she has focused her research on the prevention of chronic kidney disease and lifestyle modifications of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander and Asian-American subgroup populations. She actively participates in grantsmanship and publications with the research team of investigators from the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Currently, Dr. Kataoka-Yahiro is serving as the Associate Director for the Professional Development Core of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Center for Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO) Grant. In addition, she has served as the Associate Director for the Professional Development Core of the NIH Mountain West Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN) grant (2013-2021). In 2013, she served as the Principal Investigator for the NIH Extramural Associates Research Development (EARDA) Awards, Office of Research Development and from 2010 to 2014, Dr. Kataoka-Yahiro served as the Section Leader and Co-Leader for the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Multidisciplinary and Translational Research Infrastructure Expansion Hawaii Grant (RMATRIX). She has published more than 100+ peer reviewed publications and presentations and served in leadership positions on NIH extramural grants (as a PI, Section Leader, Associate Director, Co-Director, Grant Reviewer & Writing & Content Mentor).

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