Growing up as a Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe descendant, Casey Dorr, PhD (BS ’04), remembers conversations with his grandfather, who emphasized the importance of learning science and becoming an ambassador—a bridge between two worldviews.

"That's why we want you to know what you're doing, and go to school, and become doctors," his grandfather said, "for the future of American Indian Peoples." And Dorr took that to heart.

“I knew I wanted to be a scientist,” Dorr said. “I've had this long curiosity of trying to discover things and finding out new stuff no one's ever found out. And that's really what drives me in science is that discovery, and also the community we build as scientists–especially connecting with other Indigenous scientists around the country.”

Setting his sights on laboratory research, Dorr chose the University of Minnesota’s Duluth (UMD) campus for its size, approachability, and location. Dorr discovered a wealth of opportunities as an undergrad at UMD, from working with the American Indian Learning Resource Center (AILRC), learning from Red Cliff Ojibwe elder Rick Smith, to hands-on undergraduate research with Grand Portage Ojibwe elder Ben Clarke. His undergraduate studies culminated in a year-long study abroad in an Italian government lab. By the time Dorr graduated from Duluth, he was well on his way to becoming a professional scientist.

“ My whole career has pretty much had some link to the University of Minnesota, from being a freshman walking into Griggs Hall,” he says, to becoming a full member of the faculty at both the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and College of Pharmacy, where he teaches and researches nephrology (the study of kidney health) and chronic kidney disease.

“ When a patient ends up losing their kidney function, they go on dialysis or they have to get a transplant, or they die. So when a patient gets that transplant, we want that kidney to last as long as possible, hopefully decades. The average kidney only lasts maybe 10 years, about 5 years for Black and Indigenous Peoples. So we want to change that,” Dorr says. “ That's an issue that we're trying to figure out how to solve: transplant longevity.”

It’s important to Dorr to pass along the support and mentorship that was so impactful in his journey. He does that through serving as an associate professor in the School of Medicine and adjunct associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, and by being active in organizations like the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.

Through teaching and research, he hopes to improve the lives of those who have received a kidney transplant. “Chronic kidney disease affects one in seven Americans,” Dorr said, “and with Native populations, it’s about one in four. It’s an undiscussed disease, but it impacts a huge number of people in Minnesota and across the country.”