LAN HOANG, MD, MPH
STAFF EPIDEMIOLOGIST / STATISTICIAN

Lan Hoang, MD, MPH graduated from the Bac Thai Medical University, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam as a Medical Doctor in 1986. She worked as an Internal Medicine Doctor and practiced Traditional Medicine, Acupuncture and then went on to specialize in Gynecology/Obstetrics (1992). She worked as an Obstetrician Specialist at the Woman Hospital and her own Clinic in Lao Cai province, Vietnam and also as an Epidemiologist/ Research Analyst at Evaluation and Research Unit, Maternal and Child Health Care and Family Planning, Vietnam (1993 to 2000). She came to the US in 2000, for a Public Health Program at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine scholarship and graduated with a masters degree in Public Health with a major in Health Development and Biostatistics (2002). She worked for HIV/AIDs Program, CDC and Louisiana Public Health Institute as a data manager/ research analyst (2003 to 2009) before joining RMTEC. Lan's hobbies include martial art, dancing, fishing, cooking, gardening and designing the landscape for her house.

KATHY MASIS, MD
BEHAVIOR HEALTH SPECIALIST

Kathy Masis, MD (Capt US PHS ret.) was an Indian Health Service Family and Addiction Medicine Physician before coming to the MT WY TLC/RMTEC. She directs the Rocky Mountain Tribal Access to Recover (SAM HSA) grant project and is a project lead on RMTEC's Behavioral Health projects (Behavioral Health Data Improvement, Suicide Data Tracking, and Chemical Dependency Resource). She has lived in Billings since 1993, after starting in IHS at Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation. She hails from upstate New York originally, but is now a Mon tana/Wyoming girl.

MITZI RACINE
PROJECT COORDINATOR, RMTEC/NPHPSP FACILITATOR

Mitzi Racine is the ProjectCoordinator for RMTEC and also works as the NPHPSP Facilitator.She loves her job and everyone that she works with.
Mitzi also works part-time with people who need assistance with homecare. In addition, she is currently going to college to fulfill aBachelors Degree in Health and Human Performance. She plans to go on and obtain a Master degree in Public Health. She is a prime example of a workaholic! Mitzi was born and raised in the great state of Montana. She is a proud single mother raising two wonderful daughters who are 12 and 14 years old.

CHERYL NAGEL, AA
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Cheryl Nagel began workingfor MT-WY TLC/RMTEC in January of 2008. Her prior employment includes Farmer's Home Administration, Veteran's Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and retiring from the Indian Health Services in February of 2007 for a combined federal service of 20 years. She is proud to be an enrolled Prairie Band Potawatomi from Kansas residing in Billings since 1987. Cheryl married her high school sweet, who teaches on the Crow Reservation. Her interests and hobbies includegoing to pow wows, bowling and loving God, life, and family.

NONA JO JONNA MAIN
MONTANA WYOMING NATIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: RESEARCH ASSISTANT INTERN

I am a recent graduate of the Montana State University Billings. I received a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Native American Studies. I was born and raised in Fort Belknap, Montana where I am an enrolled member of the Whiteclay Nation (also known as the GrosVentre tribe). I am a single Mother to a son, Trenton James (7 years). I am very proud of the fact that I have obtained a college education to better provide for my son. He is my motivation in everything I do and I strive to give him everything he dreams of. In my spare time, I enjoy doing different things with my son, playing basketball, reading, going to powwows, and spending as much time as I can with my family and friends. In the future, I plan to go on for my Master’s in Native American Studies and possibly teach at some point (either from a classroom or by creating documentaries) about various issues in Indian country. I feel it is very important for every community to be informed of “Tribal presence”. I am very thankful to have been blessed with an opportunity to be an intern with RMTEC/MTWYTLC and look forward to this new experience.

JOSHUA EMMANUEL SHONHE BROWN
AMERICORPS VISTA VOLUNTEER

I am a recent graduate of Southern Connecticut State University. I received a Bachelors of Arts in History. I was born in Greenville North Carolina, moved to Connecticut and have lived in Connecticut ever since the age of five. In 2009, I moved to Montana for AmeriCorps VISTA. I currently serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council (RMTEC). I am the Montana Wyoming Native Child and Youth Project (CYP) Youth Coordinator. I enjoy learning about ancient history of people of color and going to the gym. I hope to complete at least one more year of AmeriCorps service at another site on the Northwest pacific coast of America and then further my education by achieving a master’s degree.  

JULIE NOT AFRAID
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (HRDC DISTRICT 7)
RMTEC ADMINISTRATIVE INTERN

I am a 2007 graduate of Montana State University Billings with a Bachelors degree in Human Services. I am volunteering at RMTEC. I am in a job training program working through the HRDC Subsidized Employment Program, Billings, MT. I am learning a lot about different programs in RMTEC and I am getting great job training experience with different clerical duties to perform every day. I am trying to gain full time employment with my work experience that I am gaining at RMTEC. RMTEC staff are wonderful people to work with. I am enjoying myself and glad to have such a great opportunity with RMTEC. I am from Rocky Boys Indian Reservation (my mother is from Rocky Boy) and I an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe (my father is from Crow) and I am very proud of “my mix”. I love and enjoy being with my grandson and granddaughter and of course my three daughters, mother and family. I love walking, bowling and going to movies with my little family. 

ALYSSA FRANCIS

I am a graduate of Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in Native American Studies. I was an intern at RMTEC in summer, 2009. During my time as an intern I worked with the Montana Breast and Cervical Health Program and the Summer Youth Camp assisting with public relations and data entry. I also had the opportunity to work on researching various health care related grants, learned to write a grant, construct a budget as well as examine various health care topics. I really enjoyed my time as an intern with RMTEC finding the group easy to work with as well as a great educational opportunity overall. I plan on completing a Masters of Public Health in the near future and attribute that goal to my internship at RMTEC. After my internship, I was given the opportunity to continue with the establishment as a Montana and Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council employee and worked as a RMTEC Research Assistant. I am currently working in a full time position as a Project Coordinator at the Montana and Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council’s Strategic Prevention Framework State/Tribal Incentive Grant (SPF SIG).

YUKI JOY BRIEN
RESEARCH ASSISTANT INTERN
MSU-BILLINGS, GRADUATE PROGRAM; MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY

Period: Fall semester, 2008

The first day of my internship, the Supervisor provided reading materials for me to better understand how RMTEC has been funded, the programs RMTEC has, and the cultural uniqueness and the areas of needs. Research for Best Practiced and Evidence Based Treatments for Native American youth helped me to understand different ways of approaching this issue. Research for Misclassifications made me realize the sensitivity and existence of misclassifications. I am grateful for the internship I had at RMTEC, not only for the beneficial academic experiences the organization provided for me, but also for the warm welcome and acceptance by the staff as a part of the organization. I appreciate RMTEC for having me and allowed me to have valuable experiences.

…………I only wish the internship had a longer time period!