02/12/2026
Speaker Spotlight for our April 23rd Community Research Symposium in Kyle, SD: Dr. Lyle Best, MD
RSVP to attend: https://forms.office.com/r/xWzN8xRbSF
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Dr. Best grew up in North Dakota and began his professional career with the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 1977, for the first 16 years as clinical director of the hospital at Belcourt, ND and later for 5 years as Maternal Child Health consultant, responsible for 19 facilities in the region. Retiring from IHS in 1998, Dr. Best spent a year in Winnipeg, Canada in both the DNA Diagnostic Laboratory and in the regional genetic counseling clinic. From 1999 through 2013 he taught genetics at Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC). He conducted genetic and other research in American Indian communities along with his clinical duties, later supervising the Strong Heart Study as PI from 2000 through 2017, and the Factors Influencing Pediatric Asthma (FIPA) from 2012 through the present.
Dr. Best has supervised the TMCC Genetics and Pre-eclampsia Study (GPS) since 2004. A primary goal of the GPS is training and engagement of tribal college students in an ongoing biomedical research program. Over 60 students have benefited from this program and many have gone on to highly qualified careers in medical fields. This study was the first to report genetic variants in the C-reactive protein (CRP) gene increasing risk of pre-eclampsia.
Dr. Best also supervised a case/control study of asthma in the Cheyenne River Sioux community. In addition to published findings, an important product of this study has been a series of videos highlighting the contributions of epidemiology and genetics to the improvement of public health for American Indian communities.
