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rETHICS: Research Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities

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Empowering Indigenous Communities Through Culturally Tailored Research Ethics Training

The rETHICS project developed a culturally tailored research ethics training curriculum designed specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Recognizing historical mistrust and ethical breaches in research involving Indigenous populations, rETHICS aims to enhance understanding of ethical research practices, emphasizing community protection and sovereignty. The curriculum includes modules on informed consent, confidentiality, and community risks and benefits, all contextualized within AI/AN cultural framework. A randomized comparison trial demonstrated that participants who completed the rETHICS training showed significantly higher knowledge scores and greater trust in research processes compared to those who underwent standard ethics training.  

1st

First ethics training curriculum specifically designed for AI/AN communities.

Promoting community engagement

Addresses historical ethical violations and promotes community engagement in research.

large group of people standing outside holding a banner in front of them that says: "Research Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities"
Two smiling women standing next to each other, standing outside.

Committee Members

Principal Investigator: Dr. Cynthia R. Pearson 

Co-Investigators: Dr. Myra Parker, Dr. Chuan Zhou, Dr. Celia Fisher 

 

Community Collaborators: 

Community Panel 

  • CeCe Big Crow (Oglala Lakota), Board Secretary, The Visions of SuAnne Big Crow, Inc. 
  • Brenda Dial Deese, PhD (Lumbee Tribe), Project Site Coordinator, Intertribal Talking Circle for the Prevention of Substance Abuse in Native Youth 
  • Amanda Gaston, MAT (Zuni Pueblo), Project Manager for Native It’s Your Game, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board 
  • Vanessa Hiratsuka, PHD, MPH, Senior Researcher, Southcentral Foundation 
  • Lynnette Jordan (Ojibwe & Colville), Interim Director of Operations and Director of Family Services, United Indians of All Tribes Foundation 
  • Billie Jo Kipp, PhD, Associate Director, Research and Evaluation, Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute 
  • Travis L. Lane (Navajo/Southern Ute), Assistant Director, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. 
  • Beverly Patchell, PhD, APRN, CNS, PMH-BC (Cherokee/Creek), Past President, National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association, Assistant Professor (Retired), University of Utah College of Nursing 
  • Antony Stately, PhD (Ojibwe/Oneida), CEO, Native American Community Clinic 
  • Sandra Stroud (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Project Director, Yappalli 
  • Emily White Hat, JD (Sicangu Lakota/ Rosebud Sioux Tribe), Project Evaluator, Sanford Research/USD (Sioux Falls, SD) 

 

Academic Panel 

  • Jyoti Angal, MPH, CIP, Director, Regulatory Knowledge Core within the Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health 
  • Julie Baldwin, PhD, Regents’ Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University; Director, Center for Health Equity Research (CHER), Northern Arizona University 
  • Ronny A. Bell, PhD, MS, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Forest School of Medicine; Director, Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, Forest School of Medicine 
  • Jada L. Brooks, PhD, MSPH, RN (Lumbee), Assistant Professor, School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
  • Daniel Dickerson, DO, MPH, (Inupiaq), Associate Research Psychiatrist, UCLA, Integrated Substance Abuse Programs 
  • Rodney C. Haring, PhD, MSW, Research Faculty, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the Office of Cancer Health Disparities Research, Cancer Prevention, and Population Sciences 
  • Scarlett Hopkins, RN, MA, Community Engagement & Clinical Support Core Director, Center for Alaska Native Health research; Research Associate, Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 
  • Lee Anne Nichols PhD, RN (Cherokee), Associate Professor, University of Tulsa Health Science Center School of Nursing 
  • Tassy Parker, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center 
  • Irene Vernon, PhD (Mescalero Apache /Yaqui/Mexicana descent), Professor and Chair, Department of Ethnic Studies (retired), Colorado State University 
  • Melissa L. Walls PhD (Bois Forte and Couchiching First Nations Anishinabe), Director, Great Lakes Hub for the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health; Associate Professor, International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

rETHICS is sponsored by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Health Development