An expert on suicide and resilience within Native populations has joined the full-time faculty of the Wayne State University School of Social Work, expanding the school's expertise in the areas of indigenous mental health, community-based action research, and ethnography.

Associate Professor Michael Kral comes to Wayne State from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was an associate professor in the Departments of Psychology and Anthropology. Prior to that, he held faculty positions at Yale and the University of Windsor. Kral holds two doctoral degrees: one in medical anthropology from McGill University and the other in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles.

A native of Montreal, Kral has conducted participatory research for 20 years with Inuit in Arctic Canada on suicide, suicide prevention, kinship, culture change, and youth resilience. He has co-edited books on suicidology, suicide in Canada, and the role of theory, philosophy, and history in psychology. He has also authored dozens of articles and book chapters and is writing a book on suicide among Inuit in Arctic Canada. Now in Detroit, Kral's research priorities involve the development of interventions for the city's indigenous residents. He is meeting with Native American groups and health organizations to conduct a needs assessment based on their feedback.

"Native Americans have the worst health and highest suicide rate of any ethnic group in America, which is directly related to severe poverty, social problems, and other disparities that they face," Kral said. "Rather than make assumptions about their needs, it's important to hear from them directly about their priorities."

For his outreach work, Kral will draw on his experience surveying urban-based indigenous peoples as a member of the Board of Directors of Pedahbun Lodge, an Aboriginal drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Toronto. He is also collaborating with School of Social Work faculty on research projects involving youth bullying and suicide.

For more information on Kral and other Wayne State School of Social Work faculty visit us online at https://socialwork.wayne.edu/faculty/profiles.php.