We are so honored to have Dr. Patricia Fifita as our keynote speaker for the 2026 PISA Conference!
Patricia Fifita is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies with a specialization in Critical Pacific Islands Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies at Oregon State University. She is an interdisciplinary, intersectional scholar of Tongan ancestry with an academic and research background spanning medical, environmental, and Indigenous anthropology. She has spent the last two decades conducting research on Indigenous health, colonialism, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), food sovereignty, health and environmental justice, and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) in/of Oceania. Her recent projects include conducting a Traditional Resource Use Study for the National Park of American Samoa, an Indigenous (re)envisioning study of coastal and land restorative justice in Anahola, Kaua‘i, and co-editing a special issue for the Pacific Studies Journal on Food Sovereignty in Oceania.
PISA would like to thank Dr. Fifita for speaking at our conference this year!
We are thrilled to have Dr. Kalani Raphael as our keynote speaker for the 2026 PISA Conference!
Dr. Kalani Lukela Raphael is an adult nephrologist and Professor of Internal Medicine with tenure at University of Utah. Dr. Raphael is a specialist in disorders of the kidney, electrolytes, and high blood pressure. His research focuses on chronic kidney disease and he has received research support from the NIH, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Raphael also Co-Leads the Center for Pacific Islander Veterans Health and the Haumana ‘o Pasifika Summer Research Internship Program at University of Utah.
PISA would like to thank Dr. Rafael for speaking at our conference this year!