November 1, 2013

IWRI National Center of Excellence Funding Updates

International Indigenous Health Research Training Program Application

Dr. Karina Walters received a promising score for her National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) International Research Training Grant (T37) application titled “Mahina Project: International Indigenous Health Research Training Program.”  This 5-year training grant, requesting $1,351,600, is designed to develop the Mahina International Indigenous Health Research Training Program. The Mahina Project will provide an international, 12-week health research training opportunity in Aotearoa/New Zealand to qualified undergraduate, graduate, and medical students at the UW and University of Hawai’i (UH). Indigenous trainees will be prioritized, but individuals with socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and are partnering with or living in Indigenous communities or families are eligible to participate as well. The Mahina Project was initiated and developed as the result of a bourgeoning tripartite partnership among the UW IWRI, the UH (UH-Manoa; John A. Burns School of Medicine), and the University of Auckland (Te Whare Kura Research Initiative in the Faculty of Arts and the Department for Maori Health-Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences).

Gates Foundation Grant-Native Youth Enrichment Program – Stage 2

Ms. Polly Olsen is a recent recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Partnering for the Future: Investing in Native Student Success Initiative grant in the amount of $50,000. Ms. Olsen, as PI, will lead the Native Youth Enrichment Program – Stage 2 (NYEP 2).   NYEP is an innovative, culturally-based, two- to four-week summer program offered through IWRI. IWRI completed phase one of the NYEP in 2012. NYEP provides hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) experiences both on and off the UW campus targeting 6th through 8th grade Native American (NA) youth from Washington State. During the program, students will meet with NA staff, faculty and professional mentors on campus and see STEM careers in action on numerous off-campus field trips. Students will work in groups with the UW NA staff, faculty and STEM mentors to develop a research project that explores issues in environmental health, the interconnectedness of human activity, and a variety of topics related to health and wellness that will include traditional indigenous knowledge. Students will publish blogs about their research projects using video, photographs, and written notes.

Conference Grant Awarded for “Vision to Action”

Dr. Bonnie Duran was recently awarded a one-year R13 Conference grant from the NIMHD in the amount of $43,889 for the “Vision to Action: Achieving Health Equity in Indian Country” project.  This project contributes to the National Institutes of Health’s overall mission to improve American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) health and eliminate health disparities by fostering innovative collaborations and partnerships across national, regional, and local tribes, tribal colleges, and tribal consortia. These partnerships will produce concrete plans to collaborate and increase capacity for health disparities research and to increase AIANs in the scientific workforce.      “By bringing Indigenous stakeholders together in a culturally-tailored dialogue we aim to identify and strategize how we can utilize research partnerships to effect relevant Indigenous health research.”

TCU BASICS Study

Dr. Bonnie Duran received $3,238,872 in funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for this intervention research project.  This 5-year project proposes to perform a randomized, controlled trial of a culturally-contextualized Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) in TCU settings and to implement an organizational-level intervention that integrates substance abuse referral and treatment into TCU policy and student services.  The hypothesis is that a culturally-appropriate adaptation will reduce hazardous or harmful drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences and improve academic outcomes, with a significantly greater effect in TCU with the policy intervention.