UM Directory

Damian Chase-Begay, PhD, MS (Mandan/Arikara) is Associate Professor of Social Epidemiology & Indigenous Health in the University of Montana (UMT) School of Public and Community Health Sciences (SPCHS). In July 2024, he received a career development award in implementation science (NIDA 1K01DA061078) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to rigorously adapt an evidence-based substance abuse prevention intervention for urban Indigenous young adults in Montana to incorporate traditional cultural and ceremonial practices. He will test the intervention via a hybrid type 2 implementation-effectiveness clinical trial at five Urban Indian Health Centers. He also has a Health Equity Scholars for Action award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore the scope, application, and structure of Indigenous Research Methodologies in Western research settings.

Dr. Chase-Begay currently holds two post-doctoral fellowships. He was one of seven scholars nationally accepted into the 2024 cohort of the Center for Dissemination and Implementation at Stanford (C-DIAS) Fellowship in Addiction D&I Science. His C-DIAS fellowship research focuses on exploring Medicaid funding mechanisms for traditional cultural and ceremonial practices in Indigenous health. He was also accepted into the 2025 cohort for the University of Washington Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training (IHART3) fellowship program. His IHART3 fellowship research will explore associations between substance abuse and HIV prevention programming in urban Indigenous communities.

Previously, Dr. Chase-Begay was the first Indigenous person to serve as the City-County Health Officer for Missoula, Montana. Before transitioning to that role, he worked in the American Indian/Indigenous health field for more than two decades. He is the former executive director of All Nations Health Center (2018-2021), in Missoula, and the National Council of Urban Indian Health (2010-2013), in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Chase-Begay received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Montana, where his doctoral research focused on the protective role of Indigenous traditional ceremonial practices in an urban, multi-tribal community. He also holds a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership from the University of California, San Francisco.

PERSONAL NOTE: My grandmother, June Chase Nickelson, was extremely proud to have attended the University of Montana and I was proud to follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, she passed before I was able to complete my PhD studies. My grandmother’s sister was able to travel from our reservation to attend graduation in my grandmother’s stead. After my graduation, she honored me with my grandmother’s family name to carry forward. I made the decision to acknowledge my father’s family by replacing my middle name (Shane) with his maternal family name (McCrackin). And I chose to hyphenate my new last name with my husband’s surname (Begay). This is why my prior work used the name D’Shane Barnett and, beginning in May 2023, I now use the name Damian M. Chase-Begay.

Education

PhD, Public Health, University of Montana

MS, Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership, University of California-San Francisco

BA, Sociology: Inequality and Social Justice, University of Montana

Current Position

Associate Professor

Courses Taught

PUBH 591/691: ST: Social Epidemiology

PUBH 491: ST: Academic Health Department

Research Interests

• Indigenous Health
• Indigenous Research Methodologies
• Social Epidemiology
• Implementation Science
• Substance Abuse
• Chronic Illness

Projects

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): 2024-2029 Helping End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative career development award in implementation science. Culturally adapt and then test an evidence-based substance abuse prevention intervention via a type 2 hybrid implementation-effectiveness clinical trial with urban Indigenous young adults (18-29) in Montana.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: 2024-2026 Health Equity Scholar for Action. Conduct a sequential, mixed-methods study exploring the scope, application, and structure of Indigenous Research Methodologies in Western health research settings.

Publications

Refereed Publications

Chase-Begay, DM, Cahoon J, Peterson JC, Belcourt A, Noonan C, Assessing American Indian Traditional Ceremonial Practices and Substance Use Behaviors in an Urban, Multi-tribal Setting: Results from a Community Survey. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res. 2026; 32(4): 57-82. https://doi.org/10.5820/aian.3204.2026.57.

Roth I, Chase-Begay DM, Behm V, Harris Z, Tomczak P, Owen-Smith A, La Monica M, Corbett A, Kizhakkeveettil A. A Call to Protect the Nation's Investment in Integrative, Complementary, and Traditional Health Practice Research. Glob Adv Integr Med Health. 2025; 14: 27536130251384296. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251384296.

Chase-Begay, DM. Expanding the Reach of Opioid Agonist Therapy—Lessons for Indigenous Communities. JAMA Netw Open. Jul 2025; 8(7): e2521434. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.21434.

Tsosie RL, Grant AD, Harrington J, Wu K, Chase S, Thomas A, Chase-Begay DM, Hill S, Belcourt A, Plenty Sweetgrass R. A Growing Willow: The Six Rs Indigenous Research Framework - Stories of the Native American Faculty Journey in STEM. Rural Sociol. 2024; 89(S1): 620-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12576.

Chase-Begay DM, Adam CE, Williams E, Semmens E. Association between Caregiver-perceived Health Care Provider Cultural Sensitivity and Child Health Status in the National Survey of Children’s Health: 2016–2020. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2024; 35(3): 951-61.  https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2024.a934308.

Chase-Begay DM, Peterson J, Liddell J, Belcourt A. Traditional ceremonial practices as a strategy to reduce problem substance use in American Indian communities: A systematic review. J Integr Complement Med. 2023; 29(6-7): 408-19. http://doi.org/10.1089/jicm.2022.0655. 

Tsosie RL, Grant AD, Harrington J, Wu K, Thomas A, Chase S, Barnett D, Beaumont Hill S, Belcourt A, Brown BD, Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills R. The Six Rs of Indigenous Research. Tribal coll. 2022; 33(4). https://tribalcollegejournal.org/the-six-rs-of-indigenous-research/.

Other Publications, Works in Progress

Belcourt A, Chase-Begay DM, Liddell J. Indigenous Research Methodology: A Journey of Resilience. In: Winter VR, Daniel CA, Walls NE, Spencer M, eds. Decolonizing Quantitative Methods: Anti-Oppressive Approaches to Social Work Research. Cambridge University Press; Accepted for Publication (May 2025).

Barsky CS, McKeague LK, Emidy MB, Walters M, Beck A, Chase-Begay, DM. Public Health Implications of 911 Calls During Heat and Smoke Events. Natural Hazards Center Public Health Disaster Research Report Series, Report 42. 2024. Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://hazards.colorado.edu/public-health-disaster-research/public-health-implications-of-911-calls-during-heat-and-smoke-events.

Dissertation

Barnett D. American Indian traditional ceremonial practices: Addressing problem substance use in a multi-tribal urban community. Dissertation. University of Montana ProQuest Dissertations (Publication No. 2684617732); 2022. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/american-indian-traditional-ceremonial-practices/docview/2684617732/se-2. 

Affiliations

American Public Health Association

• Chair-elect, 2024-2025, Integrative, Complimentary, and Traditional Health Practices (ICTHP) Section
• Section Councilor, 2022-2024, ICTHP Section
• Member in Good Standing, 2017-

Montana Public Health Association

• Board Member/Tribal Liaison, 2024-2025
• Member in Good Standing, 2017-2025

Confluence Public Health Alliance

• Vice President, 2024-2025
• Board Member, 2023-2025

Native Research Network

• Chair-elect, 2025-
• Member in Good Standing, 2017-

Honors / Awards

• APHA ICTHP Section Emerging Leader Award (2023)
• Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society (2022)
• SPCHS Ellen Leahy Public Health Leadership Award (2022)
• Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociological Honor Society (2015)
• Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society (2015)