ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2018 – 14
HONORING DR. MARJORIE LEIMOMI MALA MAU FOR HER DEDICATION TO IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF KANAKA MAOLI
WHEREAS, Marjorie Leimomi Mala Mau, as a proud kanaka maoli has dedicated her career to improve the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, as a kauka, a physician, she specialized in endocrinology to help Hawaiians with diabetes live longer and better lives, providing care for patients on O‘ahu, Moloka‘i and in Alaska; and
WHEREAS, she is an international expert on diabetes prevention, management, and care in Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, as a passionate Hōkūle‘a voyager, she has provided health screenings for crew and taken on the role of medical officer joining numerous Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia voyages around Hawai‘i, the Pacific, and the world to care for sick and injured on voyages and extend medical knowledge to our Pacific cousins; and
WHEREAS, she is a Professor and founding Chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine, the only clinical department in an accredited medical school in the United States to be dedicated to the health of an indigenous population; and
WHEREAS, she is the inaugural holder of the Myron “Pinky” Thompson Endowed Chair for Native Hawaiian Health Research; and
WHEREAS, she established the Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research (the Center) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa which recently completed its 15th year of continuous funding awarded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to support biomedical and behavioral research on cardiometabolic health disparities in Native Hawaiians, Pacific Peoples, Filipinos and other Pacific-based Native Peoples; and
WHEREAS, under her leadership the Center has become a worldwide leader for culturally-relevant and culturally-based clinical research and has established widely acclaimed programs for diabetes, obesity, and heart disease for Native Hawaiians including the Hanapū, PILI ‘Ohana, Mālama Pu‘uwai, and Ola Hou I ka Hula programs; and
WHEREAS, as a prolific scientist and research mentor, she has led breakthrough studies of understanding and improving health of Hawaiians in the areas of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, epigenetics, public health, and mental health; and
WHEREAS, she is a principal investigator of multiple grants and has continuously been funded, mostly for initiatives addressing Native Hawaiian and minority health, for the past 25 years and received recognition in National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Faces of Science from 2009 to 2013; and
WHEREAS, she is the first Native Hawaiian woman to be certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties in both endocrinology and internal medicine; and
WHEREAS, she is the first woman from Hawai‘i to ever receive a rank of “Master Physician” by the American College of Physicians; and
WHEREAS, she has been recognized for her lifelong work in research and healthcare with the selection as a fellow at the 500 year-old Royal College of Physicians in London England that has a mission to drive improvements in health and healthcare through advocacy, education and research; and
WHEREAS, she was one of only three women to be recognized by Creighton University, where she graduated in 1985, to receive the Alumni Merit Award in its long history.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 59th Annual Convention in Kalapaki, Kauaʻi, in the malama of Welehu and the rising of ʻOlepau, this 17th day of November 2018, honoring Dr. Marjorie Leimomi Mala Mau for her dedication to improving the health and well-being of kanaka maoli; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Education, Chair of the State House Committee on Education, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, President of the University of Hawai‘i, and the Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Welehu and the rising of ‘Olepau on the 17th day of November 2018, at the 59th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Kalapaki, Kaua‘i.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
