Santino Camacho

Santino (Tino) Camacho is a Queer CHamoru scholar from the island of Guåhan (Guam). He’ll be returning to UW as a triple dawg. In his first year, he is excited to continue the work he has been doing over the summer with Dr. Michael Spencer and the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute to create a model for COVID-19 Economic Recovery for and in collaboration with WA Pacific Islander communities. Tino’s research interests include the development of culturally rooted/adapted health promotion interventions for Queer, Transgender and other Indigenous Pacific Islanders; the use of indigenous methodologies and community-based research methods in the collection and use of QTPI and Indigenous Pacific Islanders’ health data; and the practice of CHamoru and Pasifika ethics and praxis in conducting scientific research of health disparities of Indigenous communities. While accomplishing his Master’s in Public Health at the UW, Tino worked with the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services to establish Title X sexual and reproductive health services at their Northern Community Health Center. His thesis work used community-based participatory research principles to ascertain the health concerns and needs of Queer and Transgender Pacific Islanders in the greater Puget Sound Area.