American Indian and Alaska Native Programs

Native Elder Research Center

Resource Center for Minority Aging Research

Applications are no longer being accepted for the current cohort. Thank you for your interest.

Program Description

The career development format focuses on acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary for submission of an independent RO1 or K Award grant application by investigators of American Indian or Alaska Native heritage through formal didactic sessions, workshops, mini-courses, regular meetings, mentoring activities by Core Faculty, and consultations with Affiliated Faculty. Personnel, resources, and activities originate from both the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the University of Washington , drawing on their respective strengths and affiliations. The specific aims of the Native Investigator Development Core are:

  1. To increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native professionals capable of conducting research in areas of high priority, in particular those that reduce the minority/non-minority differential in health status, access to needed care, and the consequences thereof;
  2. To establish and maintain learning and mentoring relationships between established researchers and junior colleagues previously unfunded by NIH;
  3. To improve the methodological skills of such investigators by participation in Pilot Studies intended to reduce health status and access differentials between Native people and their non-Native counterparts in the general population; and
  4. To employ the Pilot Studies as the basis for preparing independent investigator-initiated awards led by American Indian and Alaska Native researchers.

This career development program provides intensive, long-term mentoring of promising, well-trained American Indian and Alaska Native health professionals modeled on the highly successful Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. The Native Investigator Development Core weaves together didactic, experiential, and mentored instruction as well as specialized seminars to equip Native Investigators to function as independent scientists working at the interface of aging, health, and culture, with special emphasis on American Indians and Alaska Natives.

This blend of activities includes:

  • an introductory 1 week course covering writing skills, statistics, and selected topics relevant to American Indian and Alaska Native health;
  • Pilot Studies;
  • a series of meetings that vary in timing and intensity as required to design and conduct the Pilot Studies;
  • continuous interaction with mentors drawn from the Core and Affiliated Faculty; and ;
  • other seminars and workshops as relevant, available, or necessary to specific issues or Pilot Studies.

Within this framework, Native Investigators are encouraged to pursue specific lines of inquiry that will yield research capable of securing external sponsorship. Of special note, by virtue of its inclusion of senior same-race mentors and others who have fashioned careers in cross-cultural medicine, the RCMAR is unusual in its ability to provide appropriate role models to aspiring Native Investigators.

Native Investigators will participate in RCMAR activities for 2 years. During the first year, these individuals complete the mini-course, participate in 4-6 Denver-based 2-day meetings involving RCMAR faculty, staff and investigators, and develop, conduct, and eventually publish, a secondary data analysis project. They will also develop a Pilot Study that involves collecting new data during the second year. In the second year, data generated by the Pilot Study will be analyzed and a second manuscript prepared. Parallel efforts focus on using these data as the basis for the preparation of an NIH-type grant application, most often a K award, to be submitted for peer review. Feedback and guidance during this time is provided at the 2-day RCMAR meetings in Denver involving both Core and relevant Affiliated Faculty. Grant applications undergo an NIH-style mock review prior to actual submission at the end of the 2-year cycle.

Eligibility Criteria for Native Investigators:

Candidates from fields such as medicine, nursing, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, and other social and behavioral sciences are encouraged to apply but must meet the following requirements:

  • have Native status, with documentation as needed and/or appropriate of tribal affiliation,
  • be the recipient of an advanced degree such as an MD, Ph.D., DSW, EdD or the equivalent, in one of the social, behavioral, or health sciences, and
  • demonstrate the relevance and need for training of this nature to future plans and career development.

Inquiries are encouraged and may be directed via USPS Mail to Dedra Buchwald , MD , Associate Director, NERC/RCMAR, UCHSC, Mail Stop F800, P.O. Box 6508, Aurora , Colorado 80045-0508 , by telephone (303) 724-1477, or by e-mail: dedra@u.washington.edu.