# Empowering AI/AN Health Researchers: Northwest NARCH 10 Program

> **NIH NIH S06** · NORTHWEST PORTLAND AREA INDIAN HLTH BD · 2020 · $594,873

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY:
Three premises underlie the development of our NW NARCH. First, despite longstanding efforts by tribal,
federal, and state health care programs, the available data show substantial disparities in health for NW
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) compared to non-AI/AN. NW tribal leaders fear that their health
status is getting worse instead of better; this fear unfortunately has been substantiated with health data that
show increases in key chronic disease conditions instead of decreases over the past 20 years. Second, Indian
communities distrust health research because of negative experiences with non-AI/AN researchers who did not
respect tribal needs or sensitivities, even though carefully implemented health research has the potential to
provide solutions to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, existing health disparities. Third, health research done by
highly skilled AI/ANs who are sensitive to the culture and specific concerns of NW and other Indian
communities can bridge the gap between academia and community, though currently we lack the critical mass
of AI/AN researchers necessary to accomplish this task.
In response to these three issues, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB or ‘the Board’) has
established the NW NARCH to form a tribal-academic partnership for community-based health research
focused on eliminating racial health disparities and will continue this partnership with this application. The NW
Indian communities represented by NPAIHB have a long track record of coordinated efforts to improve their
health status; our tribal-academic partnerships with Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State
University will build a wide-reaching and multi-layered infrastructure to increase the skills of AI/AN researchers,
and address health problems of critical importance to the tribes. Our Board delegates and Community and
Scientific Board of Advisors have directed us to pursue three projects in this application: 1) a fellowship and
internship program that will increase the numbers of tribal people who are trained to conduct health and
biomedical research that will be of direct utility to tribal people, 2) continuation of our Summer Research
Training Institute for American Indian and Alaska Native health professionals, so that they can develop the
skills needed to function as researchers in their current roles with their tribal organizations and 3) evaluate the
efficacy of a text messaging intervention designed to reduce alcohol use and alcohol-related aggression
among AI/AN young men.
We trust that we will have substantial impact on AI/AN communities through supporting trainees and increasing
the number of rigorously trained tribal people in conducting health and biomedical research of relevance to the
tribes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10016356
- **Project number:** 5S06GM127164-03
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWEST PORTLAND AREA INDIAN HLTH BD
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS MARK BECKER
- **Activity code:** S06 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $594,873
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-16 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10016356

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10016356, Empowering AI/AN Health Researchers: Northwest NARCH 10 Program (5S06GM127164-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10016356. Licensed CC0.

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