The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Public Health Sciences (DPHS) is pleased to welcome Dr. Katherine “Kat” Yang as a new Epidemiology instructional faculty member.

Dr. Yang received her PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from UH Mānoa’s DPHS, where her dissertation focused on the development, testing, and application of the Ho‘okele Model of Enculturation among Native Hawaiian youth and its impact on mental health.

Born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i, and as one of DPHS’s first few Native Hawaiian PhD in Epidemiology graduates, she brings a deep commitment to serving her community and advancing Native Hawaiian health. Dr. Yang’s research focuses on Native Hawaiian mental health, with a particular emphasis on adolescents. She has also worked broadly on Native Hawaiian health and mental health, bringing experience from the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center and the Department of Psychiatry at the John. A Burns School of Medicine.

This fall, Dr. Yang is teaching PH 310: Introduction to Epidemiology and PH 210: Quantitative Reasoning for Public Health. She looks forward to continuing the department’s strong teaching legacy while creating a welcoming classroom environment for all students. “I hope to make epidemiology less intimidating, especially for students who may be math-phobic, and to show the many possibilities within public health,” she explained. Dr. Yang emphasized that connecting with students is foundational to her teaching philosophy. “I want students to feel that public health is approachable, relevant, and something they can see themselves being part of.” She also hopes to recruit more students into public health, helping to grow the next generation of practitioners and leaders in the field.

“We are so pleased to have Dr. Yang join us!” said Dr. Tetine Sentell, Director of the Department of Public Health Sciences. “She’s an excellent instructor who does such a wonderful job sharing public health knowledge and experiences. She is a real asset to our department.”