# Building research capacity within tribal organizations for research to improve the health of Alaska Native children

> **NIH NIH UG1** · ALASKA NATIVE TRIBAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM · 2021 · $250,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was formed in December 1997 as a nonprofit IRS
501(c)(3) organization to manage statewide health services and programs for Alaska Native and
American Indian people. ANTHC will continue to participate in multicenter clinical trials through ECHO
ISPCTN with Southcentral Foundation (SCF), the largest regional tribal health organization, serving the
107,400 square mile Anchorage Service Unit, and co-managing the Alaska Native Medical Center. In
addition, we will build research capacity within the rural Alaska Tribal Health System (ATHS), by
bringing the remote tribal organization, Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC), into the ECHO
ISPCTN. We will build on our ongoing consultations with tribal leaders, clinical directors from all Alaska
tribal organizations, and our community advisory board, the ANTHC Research Consultation Committee,
to identify and evaluate clinical trials which are congruent with tribal research priorities. We will
collaborate with current ECHO ISPCTN partners on implementing and developing joint research
projects which use the strengths of each organization.
Our organizational structure will consist of ANTHC as the lead organization with SCF as sub-awardee
and YKHC as a collaborator on future individual projects. The ANTHC co-PI Rosalyn Singleton, works
in the ANTHC Clinical and Research Services (C&RS) Department in the Division of Community Health
Services. Dr. Singleton will lead the project and mentor the SCF co-PI, Melissa Hammes, who will take
increasing responsibility for research oversight during the first 2 years, and lead the research team
during the last 3 years with Dr. Singleton moving to a consultant role. The ANTHC research nurse
coordinator, Amy Swango-Wilson, works in the C&RS, and will train research nurses and will oversee
research budgets and operations. The co-PIs and Senior Faculty Development leader Jennifer Shaw
and Senior Co-investigator Matthew Hirschfeld will collaborate with the ECHO ISPCTN Data
Coordination and Operations Center (DCOC), American Indian/Alaska Native Clinical and Translational
Research Program (AI/AN CTRP), to offer training opportunities and research development for the
Junior Faculty. The SCF Senior Co-investigator will join the Senior Faculty Development Leader and PI
as core Senior Faculty with special focus on providing consultation and technical assistance on
research design, informed consents, and tribal research process and policies for Junior Faculty and the
Alaska ECHO ISPCTN research team.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10246528
- **Project number:** 5UG1OD024944-04
- **Recipient organization:** ALASKA NATIVE TRIBAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew J Hirschfeld
- **Activity code:** UG1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $250,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-23 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10246528

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10246528, Building research capacity within tribal organizations for research to improve the health of Alaska Native children (5UG1OD024944-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10246528. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*