NW Native American Research Center for Health

In the past few weeks, we have seen a flurry of activity in our NARCH program, with involvement from many of you at the Board. In fact, without the help of several guest presenters and content experts on the Board, our program would not shine. Our staff, including Ashley Thomas, Rochelle Fassler, Grazia Cunningham, and Gen McGeshick, have been working hard for months, and the wise counsel from Clif Poodry, Cindy Coleman, and Chandra Wilson (our advisors), has been quite helpful to their success.

Our primary programs included the Summer Research Training Institute classes, the Applied Biostatistics and Data Science course, the Tribal Researchers’ Cancer Control Fellowship Program, and the newly funded Public Health Research Academy for high school students, led by Stephanie Craig-Rushing, Celena Ghost Dog, Michelle Singer, Taylor Dean, Amanda Gaston, and a cast of hundreds (well, dozens, at least). This new program was embedded in the THRIVE conference. We think the team, the students, and the mentors will accomplish quite a lot.

On the horizon, starting this fall, we will be offering two intensive End-of-Summer Research Training Institute courses in Maternal Child Health Epidemiology and Elder Health. These courses will include an intensive week of classes at the onset, followed by monthly classes and a capstone project requirement at the end of the year. Dr. Tom Weiser will lead the first course, and Dr. Turner Goins from North Carolina will lead the second, with input from tribal researchers nationwide. It should be good! Thanks to Tom Weiser and Chandra Wilson for suggesting the second topic. We will keep you posted on these projects as they unfold.