A professor within the Anthropology department at CSUSM provides original research on a variety of medical ailments affecting the American Indian community.

Dr. Laurette McGuire specializes in Medical and Indigenous Anthropology at CSUSM. McGuire’s research involves the connection between biomedicine, genetics and race and explores how race, class and knowledge are co-produced through medical discourse.

“My research is centered on how knowledge is produced in medical/ health research about populations and how the ways in which that may impact health outcomes,” said McGuire.

Most of her work has been on type 2 diabetes, cancer pain and palliative care in American Indian Communities. She is currently working on a project that looks at the International Classification of Disease (ICD), codes used by the healthcare industry, coders, providers, insurance carriers and government agencies to track morbidity and mortality rates. These topics highlight the links between social inequality, risk and health through knowledge and practices associated with chronic disease.

“I am interested in the impact on health outcomes in regards to palliative care patients with the implementation of ICD-10 coding for health providers,” said McGuire. “So when you go to the doctor’s office and tell the physician your symptoms they take the diagnosis and turn it into an alpha numeric code that can then be tracked.”

When asked about which one of her achievements she is most proud, McGuire said she is most proud of her son.

“He is almost seventeen and so much more mature than I was at his age,” said McGuire.
She is also proud to have gotten her Ph.D. McGuire attended San Diego City Community College and from there transferred to the University California Riverside where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and remained for her Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Anthropology.

“My older brother and I were the first in our family to get a college degree and I am the first in my extended family to get a Ph.D.,” said McGuire. “[My mother and grandmother] believed in the importance of education as a means of social mobility.”

McGuire said she wasn’t the best student during high school years and didn’t take her school work seriously. She returned to school in her mid-20s after starting a family.

“I was fortunate to find mentors along the way,” said McGuire. “They were supportive and encouraging often having to explain how things worked… I owe a great deal to my family and to the mentors that had such a great impact on my education.”