# Preparing Indigenous Scientists to Lead Innovative Substance Use Research: The Native Children's Research Exchange Scholars Program

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $269,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Indigenous populations in the United States (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) face
significant substance use disorder inequities. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has increased efforts to
address these inequities through investing in research to understand the root causes and studies focused on
prevention and intervention in these populations. These efforts have included the launch of the Intervention
Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH) Initiative in 2012, the establishment of the NIH Tribal
Health Research Office (THRO) in 2015, and the Native Collective Research Effort to Enhance Wellness (N
CREW) in 2023. The advances resulting from these efforts are significant, but they are also incremental,
slowed by many complexities encountered in research with diverse Indigenous populations. One particular
challenge is the continued underrepresentation of Indigenous Principal Investigators (PIs), leaders who have
unique potential to fully integrate scientific and cultural knowledge throughout study design, measurement,
analysis, interpretation and dissemination. The NCRE Scholars Program works to address this gap by fostering
the development of early career Indigenous substance use and disorder researchers, particularly those whose
work focuses on the impacts and developmental course of problematic substance use in childhood and
adolescence. NCRE Scholars began in 2012 on the foundation of the Native Children’s Research Exchange
(NCRE) network of researchers partnering with communities to understand Indigenous children’s development
(prenatal through early adulthood). The NCRE network and biennial conferences provide a platform for
connecting graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty to senior research mentors who provide
substantive mentoring and career development support. The NCRE Scholars Program leverages this network
to support the development of the next generation of Indigenous substance use and disorder scientists by: (1)
providing supplemental opportunities for developing (1) substantive expertise, (2) methodological expertise, (3)
technical expertise, and (3) connections with peers, mentors, and communities. NCRE Scholars V will support
20 graduate students and early career researchers in five new cohorts of four Scholars each, providing tailored
mentoring and training opportunities, coursework, writing support, and opportunities for connection and
collaboration.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10985598
- **Project number:** 1R25DA061492-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Jerreed Dean Ivanich
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $269,974
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10985598

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10985598, Preparing Indigenous Scientists to Lead Innovative Substance Use Research: The Native Children's Research Exchange Scholars Program (1R25DA061492-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10985598. Licensed CC0.

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