ABSTRACT – Research Education Component More than 6 million people in the US have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD). The extant literature suggests that the risk of ADRD are higher among racial and ethnic minorities, especially American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders (NHPIs). Unfortunately, there is a paucity of critical research on ADRD in Indigenous peoples. A search of the PubMed database using MeSH terms “Alzheimer’s disease” and “American Indian or Alaska Native” retrieved just 32 relevant publications, while a parallel search for NHPIs returned only 19 publications. AI/ANs and NHPIs are also underrepresented in the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers Program with only 454 of 45,923 participants in the 37 Centers over the past 17 years primarily identifying as AI/AN or NHPI. Because the data from these Centers lead to some of the most influential ADRD studies, poor representation of AI/AN and NHPI participants assures that they make limited contributions to research findings, healthcare policy or clinical treatment standards. Furthermore, because very few AI/AN or NHPI scientists conduct ADRD research. The goal of the Native Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center in Minority Aging Research (NAD-RCMAR) is to build research capacity, enhance diversity in the professional workforce, and nurture innovative social, behavioral, epidemiological, and clinical research in ADRD. The scientific focus of the Research Education Component (REC) will be health disparities related to ADRD in AI/ANs and NHPIs by focusing on modifiable risk and resilience factors occurring in mid- and late-life that both increase the risk of ADRD and are highly relevant to AI/AN and NHPI communities. The REC will enhance the diversity of the ADRD research workforce by mentoring promising NAD-RCMAR Scientists especially from underrepresented minority (URM) groups, focusing on AI/ANs and NHPIs. The REC will offer NAD-RCMAR Scientists support in study design and measurement for our Pilot Studies and will deliver a workshop modelled after the highly successful Grantwriting Uncovered: Maximizing Strategies, Help, Opportunities, Experiences (GUMSHOE) program. Our Specific Aims are to: (1) Offer logistical, and scientific resources to support innovative Pilot Studies on ADRD in AI/ANs and NHPIs to generate preliminary data for publications and subsequent grant applications; (2) Increase the number of AI/AN, NHPI, and other URM investigators conducting ADRD research; (3) Initiate and maintain mentoring relationships between senior researchers and NAD-RCMAR Scientists; (4) Improve the methodological skills of NAD-RCMAR Scientists through didactic educational sessions on research methods and their conduct of Pilot Study research; and (5) Ensure Pilot findings are published in high-impact refereed journals and lead to extramural funding. The NAD- RCMAR will require representation of AI/ANs and NHPIs in ADRD studies, wh...