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Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health

Dean's Advisory Council

Michael Champion, MD

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Senior Advisor, Mental Health and the Justice System in the Hawai’i Governor’s Office

Michael Champion, MD is the Senior Advisor for Mental Health and the Justice System in the Hawai’i Governor’s Office.

He has extensive experience in healthcare administration, legislative consulting and advocacy services, and civil and criminal forensic psychiatry. In his role as a senior advisor to Governor Josh Green, Dr.Champion helps lead the state’s cross-agency initiatives on mental health and justice reform. Dr. Champion holds an M.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he completed his residency at Harvard Medical School and a fellowship at Yale University.

Senator (Ret.) Susie Chun Oakland

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Program Coordinator, Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center

Senator (Ret.) Suzanne Chun Oakland has served her community with dedication throughout her life. She currently is the Program Coordinator for Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center. In her 26 years of service in the Hawai‘i State Legislature, she has been a leading advocate for children, the elderly, families and underserved communities. She served as Chair of the House and Senate Committees on Human Services for most of her career. She focused on child welfare, adult protection, long term care, Medicaid, affordable housing, public housing, vocational rehabilitation, public assistance, and early childhood education and care. She also served on the Committees on Agriculture, Health, Economic Development, Education, Government Operations and Housing, Energy and Environment, Hawaiian Affairs, Transportation, Water/Land, and Ways and Means. Senator Chun Oakland continues to be very active in the community. She was the co-founder and co-convener of the Keiki and the Kupuna Caucuses, co-convener of the Women’s Caucus, chair of numerous legislative task forces and working groups, and a member or officer of over 50 community organizations’ boards. She has provided invaluable support to human and social service organizations such as Blueprint for Change, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center, Susannah Wesley Community Center, the Pediatric Council of Hawai‘i, and the Hawai‘i Children’s Trust Fund. The daughter of retired Executive Director of Kalihi YMCA Philip S. Chun and retired social worker Mei-Chih Chun, Senator Chun Oakland was born and raised in Honolulu, is an honor graduate of McKinley High School, and earned two BA degrees in Communications and Psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her sister, Jeanne Chun, works for the San Francisco Community Foundation and her brother, Randall Chun, is a graphic artist. Her husband of 23 years, Mike Oakland, is a Deputy Sheriff and Kapolei Courthouse Section Commander. She and Mike have three children – Mailene, Christopher, and Lauren. She also has six grandchildren.

David Derauf, MD, MPH

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Executive Director/Family Practice Physician, Kokua Kalihi Valley

David D. Derauf, MD, MPH has been with Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services (KKV) for the last 31 years. In 1989, he was hired as KKV’s first Clinical Director and remained in this position until being named as KKV’s Executive Director in October, 2003. Dr. Derauf received his medical training at the University of Minnesota. He moved to Hawai‘i in 1989 to pursue public health training and received his MPH from the University of Hawai‘i in 1995, with a focus on epidemiology.

Dr. Derauf has served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing at the University of Hawai‘i. He serves as a board member of the Association of Asian and Pacific Island Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, and Aloha Care, a Hawai‘i Medicaid Managed Care Corporation, as well as Hawai‘i Appleseed. He is also a founding member of Nā Limahana o Lonopūhā, a consortium of Native Hawaiian Health Organizations.

Under his leadership, KKV was named a Center of Excellence in Women’s health care by the Federal Government in 2002. In 2008 KKV was honored by HRSA with its Special Populations Service Award, recognizing KKV’s excellence in service to minority populations. In 2009, he was chosen by the Director of Health to represent Hawai‘i on the inaugural California-Hawai‘i Public Health Leadership Institute Team. He was given a Gerbode-Hawai‘i Community Foundation Award for non-profit leadership in 2008 and three times received a Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation Award for Excellence in Management.

He is married, has two sons who he likes to get out in the surf with from time to time.

Aimee Malia Grace, MD, MPH, FAAP

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Director, UH System Office of Strategic Health Initiatives

Dr. Aimee Malia Grace serves as Director of the UH System Office of Strategic Health Initiatives. She leads the UHealthy Hawai‘i Initiative as well as UH System federal affairs. Dr. Grace is a pediatrician and previously served for three years as lead health policy advisor for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz in Washington, D.C. where she managed Senator Schatz’s legislative work in the health field, including the areas of telehealth, Medicaid buy‐in, Tobacco to 21, Project ECHO, public health emergency preparedness, and chronic pain. She also managed Senator Schatz’s budget and appropriations for health programs of importance to Hawai‘i and Native Hawaiians. Dr. Grace completed her undergraduate studies in human biology at Stanford University, medical degree at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, pediatrics residency at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Master of Public Health (Health Policy and Management) degree at the Harvard School of Public Health, and General Academic Pediatrics (Health Policy) fellowship at the Children’s National Health System.

Jodi Haunani Leslie, DrPH, RDN, LDN, CDCES

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Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist

Dr. Jodi Haunani Leslie Matsuo is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, with training in Integrative and Functional Nutrition.  She began her professional career as a Public Health Nutritionist and Supervisor with the Hawai‘i Department of Health.  Dr. Leslie instructed at Hawai‘i Community College-West Hawai‘i, University of Hawai‘i (UH) Hilo, and UH Mānoa, teaching nutrition, kinesiology, and public health classes.  Under the mentorship and training of Dr. Claire Hughes, she has worked within traditional Hawaiian diet programs across the state.  Starting with ʻImi Hale, she has done research on Native Hawaiian workers and employee wellness programs.  Her clinical experience includes internships at Queen’s Medical Center and Tripler Army Medical Center, and then later in other acute, long-term care, and cardiac rehabilitative facilities.  Dr. Leslie has been contracted by entities including Papa Ola Lōkahi, Hana and West Hawai‘i Community Health Centers, Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, Hawai‘i Department of Education, UH-John A. Burns School of Medicine, YMCA, and the Alzheimer’s Association.  Her responsibilities ranged from development of nutrition and health curricula, educational materials, and surveys, facilitation of working groups, and clinical consultation.  She was a member of the E Ola Mau A Mau nutrition workgroup and currently serves as the health columnist for Ka Wai Ola, a newspaper of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and member of the UH Cancer Center Native Hawaiian Advisory Board.  At Kukui Lifestyle Medicine Clinic, she works with her husband in promoting lifestyle medicine as a means of preventing, treating, and reversing chronic diseases.  Dr. Leslie volunteers her time doing cooking demos and nutrition talks at local schools, churches, and community groups.  Being born and raised in Kona Hawai‘i, her passion has always been serving Native Hawaiians and rural communities.

Lorrin Kim, MAAS

Chief, Office Planning, Policy & Programs, State of Hawai’i Dept. of Health

Lorrin Kim is the Chief of the Office of Planning, Policy, and Program Development at the Hawaii State Department of Health.  Lorrin is responsible for agency-wide government relations and public policy, strategic planning, compliance and performance improvement, and special projects.  Department priorities supported by his office over the years include telehealth, medical aid in dying, rural health, oral health, community paramedicine, medical cannabis dispensaries, healthcare workforce development, and health equity.  As of late 2020, he is also the Acting State Registrar overseeing the state’s vital records program.

Before government service, part of his twenty-year career in health was spent in private sector managed care and health care systems, focusing on health information technology, chronic disease prevention, and behavioral health.  Lorrin holds bachelor’s degrees in Asian Studies and History from the Claremont Colleges system, and a master’s degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i, with concentrations in Japanese cultural history, religion, and art.

Chantelle “Tellie” Eseta Matagi

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Co-Executive Director of the Tagata Moana Hui Foundation

Chantelle "Tellie" Eseta Matagi is the Co-Executive Director of the Tagata Moana Hui Foundation, where she leads programs supporting health equity, cultural preservation, and capacity-building for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. With a background in Pacific Islands Studies and public health advocacy, Tellie has directed culturally tailored outreach initiatives, trained diverse teams, and built partnerships across local, state, and national levels. Her work emphasizes Indigenous values, inclusive community engagement, and the creation of culturally safe spaces. She is passionate about advancing health equity and uplifting Pacific Islander voices through community-led initiatives.

As a Pacific Islander, she understands the cultural nuances of working with diverse communities. It is important to Ms.Matagi that communities are represented in staffing and that community-led initiatives are supported. She works to create collaborative partnerships among community-based organizations, faith-based institutions, medical and social service providers, and community leaders and advocates.

During the pandemic, her work highlighted these partnerships and supported educational outreach and community engagement that was in-language and culturally safe. This approach is considered innovative, inclusive of indigenous/native knowledge, and lead to better community participation.

When Tellie began with the state of Hawai’i Department of Health (HDOH) as the COVID-19 Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Lead Investigator (Team 6B) in October 2020, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, and Native Hawaiians accounted for over 50% of the positive cases statewide. Today the number of positive cases in these communities has dropped substantially – approximately 25%. This is an impressive drop and one that could not have been accomplished without the efforts of Team 6B or the support of those communities overly affected by COVID-19.

In addition to Ms.Matagi’s academic background, lived-life experiences, and community connections she is extremely hard working, exacting, and possesses a tremendous amount of dedication, enthusiasm, patience, and respect for health equity work.

Katey Pelican, DVM, PhD, FNAS

Director, Health Sciences Institute, University of Hawaii.

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Director, Health Sciences Institute, University of Hawaii.

Dr. Pelican has worked in 45 countries to strengthen the multi sectoral systems needed to address the world’s most complex challenges in the integrative fields of One Health and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She founded and directed the SPARC office at U. Minnesota charged with establishing and growing large-scale, interdisciplinary programs and projects. She founded and co-lead the system-wide SDG Initiative to mobilize UMN to meet these 17 UN goals from the local to the global level. She also created the OH-SMART toolkit that has improved multi-sectoral cooperation around complex challenges in the US and 29 countries globally. Dr. Pelican joined the University of Hawaii in 2025 as the inaugural Director of the Health Sciences Institute at UH Manoa where she is advancing interdisciplinary programs and projects across the UH system to improve the health and well being of the people of Hawaii and communities throughout the Pacific Rim. Strategic directions for HSI include: 1. Discover and Innovate to Improve and Extend Lives; 2. Advance Health in All Policies; 3. Promote Healthier Families and Communities in Hawai’i and the Pacific Region; 4. Ensure a Robust Statewide Health Workforce; 5. Enhance UH System-Wide Health Science Coordination and Operational Effectiveness. 

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D.

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Former Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D. was Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2015 to 2025. In 2025, Dr. Pérez-Stable retired from federal service. During his tenure at NIMHD, Dr. Pérez-Stable cultivated the Institute’s position on the cutting edge of the science of minority health and health disparities. 

Through this effort, NIMHD produced a collection of resources that guide and facilitate the conduct of research to decrease health disparities. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Pérez-Stable positioned NIMHD at the forefront of the research response to COVID-19 health disparities by co-chairing three major NIH-wide research programs and collaborating with other NIH institutes and centers. For this work, Dr. Pérez-Stable was awarded a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (Sammies) with Gary Gibbons,MD, Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in October 2021(COVID-19 Response Medal).

From 1983 to 2015, Dr. Pérez-Stable was a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Pérez-Stable’s research interests have centered on improving the health of racial and/or ethnic minorities through effective prevention interventions, understanding underlying causes of health disparities, and advancing patient-centered care for underserved populations. 

Flynn Porter, MSW

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Thompson School MSW Graduate

Flynn Porter is an alumnus of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and holds a BSW and MSW from the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health with a specialization in behavioral and mental health. He began his social work career as the Director of Operations at Akamai Recovery Maui, a substance abuse treatment facility. In this role, he oversaw daily operations, administrative functions, and maintained compliance with regulatory standards. His passion for helping those struggling with addiction led to positions as a substance abuse counselor and Program Director. Focusing on direct client services, he provided individual, group, and family counseling for those struggling with mental health and substance use. During this time he also worked with the Clinical Director to conduct staff training, program development, and curriculum expansion. Flynn gained additional social work and clinical experience through internships with the Maui AIDS Foundation, serving at-risk populations, and with Queen’s Medical Center Kekela unit, where he provided assessments, counseling, and collaborated with community resources to support patients with acute mental health diagnoses.

Michael Prelip, MHA, DPA, CHES

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Research Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Dr. Mike Prelip is a research professor of Community Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Fielding School of Public Health. Formerly he was the Chair of his department and also the inaugural Associate Dean of Public Health Practice. Dr. Prelip is an intervention scientist and is currently involved in a number of translational research projects, which are all community based and public health focused, using a community engagement model. His work has focused on public health nutrition and the food environment, chronic disease prevention, health communications and disaster preparedness and response. He also directs several NIH and CDC funded training programs focusing on health disparities.

Mr. Nainoa Thompson

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President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society

Charles Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, is a pwo (master) navigator and the first Native Hawaiian since the 14th Century to practice wayfinding (art and science of ancient non-instrument navigation) for long distance ocean voyaging.

Nainoa’s years of experience and learning from his kūpuna have culminated in the realization of his vision of the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, led by the Polynesian Voyaging Society and blessed by global leaders including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This 3-year, extraordinary voyage which was completed in June 2017, engaged and united all corners of Island Earth, sailing 47,000 nautical miles to nearly 100 ports and 25 nations. Its purpose was to practice sustainable living while sharing Polynesian culture, learning from the past and from each other and creating hope and global relationships around protecting our most cherished values and places from disappearing.

A leader in transforming education, Nainoa is the Co-Founder and Advisory Board Member of Mālama Honua Public Charter School, established in 2014 and dedicated to indigenous cultural values reflected in value- and place-based education. Nainoa is a former Regent of the University of Hawai‘i where he remains deeply connected as Special Advisor on Hawaiian Affairs to the University President. He is an Ocean Elder, a Trustee for Hanahau`oli School and a former Trustee for Bishop Estate, Hawai‘i’s largest private land owner and private educational institution. His natural leadership skills that have galvanized vast and diverse sectors throughout the community to realize the importance of caring for our planet and all of humanity have earned him numerous awards including the 2015 Peter Benchley Ocean Award for Excellence in Marine Exploration, the 2001 “Unsung Hero of Compassion” award from his Holiness XIV Dalai Lama on behalf of Wisdom in Action, the Native Hawaiian Education Association’s Manomano Ka`ike Educator of the Year, the 2015 Asia Pacific Community Building Award from the East-West Center, the 2013 Visionary Award from the Maui Film Festival, the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation, the 2017 Hubbard Medal from National Geographic Society, and the 2017 Explorers Club Medal. Born and raised in Honolulu, Nainoa is a graduate of Punahou School and the University of Hawai‘i.

Jessica Yamauchi, MA

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Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hawaii Public Health Institute

Jessica Yamauchi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Hawai`i Public Health Institute (HIPHI). During her tenure, Jessica has worked to pass several health policies, including raising the age of sale of tobacco products to 21, adding electronic smoking devices in Hawai`i’s state smoke-free air law, healthy by default beverages for kids meals, and securing funding for a pilot double up bucks program (increasing fresh local produce for SNAP recipients). Under her leadership, HIPHI worked to respond to COVID-19 providing up to date information to our partners and advocates and worked with partners to increase vaccine equity. In addition, HIPHI works to support Community Health Workers (CHW) and the CHW Association. Jessica is currently on the Board of Directors for the National Network of Public Health Institutes, an ex-officio board member of the Hawai’i Public Health Association, and served on the University of Hawai’i, Office of Public Health Studies, Community Advisory Panel.