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Phyllis Pettit Nassi, MSW, of Salt Lake City, UT, is enrolled in the Otoe-Missouri Tribe and is a member of the Cherokee Nation. She is manager, special populations, at Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The program's goal is to educate American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) about how to protect themselves from cancer and participate in research. Ms. Pettitt Nassi's focus, in addition to education, prevention and screening, is on bridging the research gap. It is her goal to empower Indian communities by listening to their concerns and providing researchers with the opportunity to directly communicate to the tribes. She travels to Point Hope Alaska, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle to the high desert in Northern Arizona and the pueblos in New Mexico, meeting with Indian sisters and brothers to talk about cancer. Ms. Petitt Nassi received her Geology/Anthropology degree from Southern Oregon University, was a research assistant at the University of Nairobi, Institute of African Studies from 1977-1979, completed her Masters of Social Work in 2006 and is currently a Ph. D. student at the University of Utah, College of Social Work. | 