January 21, 2015

“ETHICS” Project Launched

Dr. Cynthia Pearson, Dr. Myra Parker (Mandan and Hidatsa), Dr. Celia Fisher, and Caitlin Donald (Osage Nation and The Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma) are pleased to announce that ETHICS – Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R01HD082181; 9/2014 – 8/2018).

Using a multi-level national community-engaged research approach, ETHICS bring together American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) community members, policy makers, AIAN researchers and allies as well as institutional review board (IRB) administrators to address ethical challenges in conducting AIAN-based research.  ETHICS will adapt and validate the human subject research training (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative – CITI) to enrich informed community involvement in research oversight and engagement. Its significance lies in its potential to increase AIAN participation in federally-funded research through culturally adapted online research ethics training and by doing so enhance the responsible conduct of research in Indian Country. We anticipate that the results of the proposed research will have high impact by contributing to the development of community research capacity among AIANs across the U.S. and more effectively highlighting strengths and protective factors while reducing health disparities affecting AIAN populations.