# Luna International Indigenous Health Research Training Program

> **NIH NIH T37** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $273,815

## Abstract

Indigenous populations (IP) of the Americas (i.e., American Indians/Alaska Natives [AIAN]; Indigenous Latin
Americans- pueblos Indígenas), the Hawaiian (Native Hawaiian-Kanaka ‘Ōiwi) and US Pacific Territories (e.g.,
tagata Sāmoa), and Nepal (Adivasi Janajati) share a troubling commonality with respect to persistent and dire
health disparities. Despite such glaring disparities, there is a paucity of culturally grounded research
addressing their biomedical and socio-behavioral health concerns. A strong network of highly trained
Indigenous scholars dedicated to culturally relevant research would contribute to ameliorating health disparities
among IP. This new application, in response to RFA-MD-18-007 “NIMHD Minority Health and Health
Disparities Research Training (MHRT) Program (T37),” is designed to develop the Luna Program: International
Indigenous Health Research Training Program an international 12-week health research training opportunity in
Latin America (Peru & Guatemala), Nepal, and in Hawai’i to 45 qualified doctoral and post-doctoral trainees
from IP who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical and sociobehavioral research careers.The
Luna program builds on the success of our Mahina Program (T37), originally developed through a tripartite
partnership of the UW, University of Auckland, and University of Hawai’I for undergraduate IP. This new
application extends our efforts into Latin America (Guatemala and Peru), South Asia (Nepal), and
Hawai’i/Oceania with a focused approach to training doctoral and post-doctoral trainees. To achieve the overall
objectives of the Luna MHRT, we will select 9 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students per year over 5 years
who will undergo a structured international 12-week mentored summer research training program that includes:
(1) a 5-day orientation and research training institute at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the
University of Washington, followed by a 10-week International Summer Research Training (ISRT) program at
the host country and associated community-based research sites; (2) supervision and training by an
international network of country site Preceptors and mentors with expertise in social, cultural, and historical
determinants of Indigenous health and health disparities, CBPR, Indigenous ethics and research protocols,
and Indigenous research methodologies; (3) community-based research exposure with Preceptors and on-site
mentors who will provide supervised field research experiences and shadowing opportunities; (4) a 4-day grant
development and writing workshop to produce a NIH grant proposal and publication based on the foreign
country research training experience; (5) administrative, editorial, and technical assistance for developing
conference presentations and writing manuscripts for publication; (6) year-round multidisciplinary learning
opportunities via seminar series, webinars, and presentations at home institutions; (7) access to a website and
listserv to f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10059145
- **Project number:** 5T37MD014208-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Karina Lynn Walters
- **Activity code:** T37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $273,815
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-19 → 2024-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10059145

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10059145, Luna International Indigenous Health Research Training Program (5T37MD014208-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10059145. Licensed CC0.

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