Nia Aitaoto is a Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community-based researcher and senior consultant and Lead of the Pacific Islander Center of Primary Care Excellence, a health equity initiative of the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organization. She is also an adjunct faculty at the University of Utah’s College of Health and the University of Hawaii’s John A Burn School of Medicine. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Iowa School of Public Health with a focus on Community and Behavioral Health. Dr. Aitaoto is a principal investigator of several research studies in Hawaii and the Pacific and has over 20 years of experience in the health and education field focusing on cancer, diabetes, cultural competency, physical activity, nutrition, medication adherence and tobacco related initiatives. Nia specializes in providing technical assistance, data assessment and evaluation support to ministries of health, community health centers and non-profit organizations in Hawaii, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of Belau, Republic of the Marshall Islands and several US states.
Nia Aitaoto is a 2022 grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Research in Transforming Health and Health Care Systems program, managed by AcademyHealth.