Rick Haverkate | Dr. Jorge Mera

Rick Haverkate, MPH, is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. In 1993 he earned his MPH from the University of Hawai’i. His 32-year public health career has been focused entirely on Indigenous peoples of North America. Rick has assumed various roles, including Community Health Educator, Public Health Advisor, and Director of Public Health at the tribal, state, and national levels. He has specialized in the operational management of HIV/AIDS, Maternal and Child Health, Tobacco, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention, and Community Capacity Building. Rick currently works for the Indian Health Service as their National HIV/AIDS Program Director.

Jorge Mera, MD, FACP, is the Indian Country ECHO Medical Director and Director of Infectious Diseases for Cherokee Nation Health Services (CNHS), the largest tribally operated health care system in the United States. He completed his fellowship in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and is Board Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in Infectious Diseases. During recent years Jorge’s efforts have been dedicated to organizing the Cherokee Nation HCV elimination program, as well as the HIV/HCV ECHO project. He is also the Director of the HIV clinic since 2012 and the Principal Investigator of the End the HIV Epidemic for the CNHS. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Oklahoma State University Health Science Center and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.