# NARCH Undergraduate Student Career Enhancement Project

> **NIH NIH S06** · INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZONA, INC. · 2021 · $734,831

## Abstract

ABSTRACT 
Project Summary: 
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends increasing the number of minority health professionals as a key 
strategy to eliminate health disparities and it is expected that training American Indian and Alaska Native 
(AIAN) researchers can bring attention and focus to the issues that prevail in the AIAN population thereby 
reducing health disparities. Unfortunately, American Indians are the least likely to persist after the first year in a 
four-year college compared to other minority populations. Multiple reasons have been proposed for the 
underrepresentation and/or lack of persistence of minorities in the STEM (STEM) fields, one of which is goal 
incongruence. Reasons for low retention rates include vary but can include family obligations, financial 
difficulties, low academic support/academic discrimination and not being prepared for University academics. 
The Leadership in Health Equity for AIAN Development program (LEAD) promises to be the most successful 
AIRCH thus far. 
We propose to create and implement the Leadership in Health Equity for AIAN Development (LEAD) certificate 
program to: (1) mitigate the gaps that result from inequalities that are embedded in educational structures; (2) 
address the unequal access to opportunities that limit AI student competitiveness in a Tier 1 research 
institution and the HSTEM field; (3) build a team environment through cohort development where AIAN 
students experience success and accountability toward success as a collective process; and (4) provide a 
learning environment practicing AIAN cultural protocols that further enhances the students' abilities to realize 
their potential and mitigate potential barriers. 
Relevance: The LEAD program is a milestone in building greater capacity for culturally sensitive and 
community-relevant research to reduce health disparities. Successful completion of the proposed LEAD 
program will increase workforce diversity in biomedical research. LEAD will help to promote a cadre of AIAN 
scientists interested in health equity issues prioritized by tribal communities and integrates social and 
cultural assets to promote academic persistence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10244908
- **Project number:** 5S06GM127980-04
- **Recipient organization:** INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZONA, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Teshia G. Arambula Solomon
- **Activity code:** S06 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $734,831
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-14 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10244908

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10244908, NARCH Undergraduate Student Career Enhancement Project (5S06GM127980-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10244908. Licensed CC0.

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