Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Native Hawaiian Health
Phone: (808) 692-1047
Email: kaholoku@hawaii.edu
Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. A nationally recognized translational behavioral scientist, he has led federally funded research programs for over two decades to improve cardiometabolic health and advance health equity for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. He serves as lead co-principal investigator of the Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO) Clinical and Translational Research Center, developing the next generation of researchers to address Hawai‘i’s most pressing health concerns. He has helped to develop other training programs to support underrepresented students, fellows, and early-career faculty in health research. His work, reflected in more than 200 publications, has contributed to improvements in healthcare delivery, clinical outcomes, and public health policy for Indigenous communities. He has held national leadership roles, including Chair of the Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health network, and member of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Locally, he served and continues to serve on the boards of organizations that strive to improve the health of Native Hawaiians and our local community more broadly. In 2024, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for his impactful contributions to science and service.