Dr. Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula is a Professor and Chair of Native Hawaiian Health in the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a licensed clinical psychologist. He is a clinical and translational researcher who has led multiple, federally-funded research projects aimed at describing, explaining, preventing, or treating cardiometabolic-related medical conditions in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to achieve health equity. With colleagues, he has developed national and international research training programs to support Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and other science-underrepresented students and post-doctoral fellows in pursuing a health science research career. In Hawai‘i, he has served on boards of organizations with a mission to improve population and Native Hawaiian health to include the Queen’s Health Systems, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, and Papa Ola Lokahi Native Hawaiian Health Board. Recently, he is a co-lead of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response, Recovery, Resiliency Team for Hawai‘i. As a Native Hawaiian, he is passionate about improving the health of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and has made a life-long commitment to improving their social and cultural determinants of health.

In 2007, Keola found himself as one of the central specialists at Life Foundation where he helped to develop and publish projects, curriculum, programs, workshops, and research relevant to addressing HIV/AIDS within the Native Hawaiian community. His recognized accomplishments lead him to be a recruited candidate to help build the Research Division of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 2010. It is there that Keola applied his passion for Native Hawaiian cultural issues to promote indigenous progress through the lens of the past in its relevance to today. The fields of health and education are sure to benefit further from his innovative and progressive research. Such contributions are assured to be a future asset to the Native Hawaiian community. His expertise is apparent in the many local, national, and international conferences Keola is requested to speak and present at. His sharing’s are always inspiring as they touch on the naʻau and soul that embody how we as native peoples live in a post- modern world while remaining firmly planted in accordance to the spiritual realm of our genesis. Such balance captures academic researchers and community participants alike in the creation and sharing of his work. In 2013, Keola procured the position of Ka Pounui of ʻAha Kāne Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males. Under his leadership ʻAha Kāne is committed to reestablishing the traditional constructs of the Hale Mua (Men’s House) within our communities to support the development and education of Hawaiian men.