# The Native American Research Internship (NARI) Summer Program in Child Health > **NIH NIH R25** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2020 · $108,000 ## Abstract Project Summary / Abstract Compared to the general U.S. population, the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations are young and growing. One-third of the AI/AN population is younger than 18 years. AI/AN young people face health disparities which start in utero and continue into adulthood. AI/AN represent ~1% of the United States population but only 0.3% of physicians and medical school faculty, and 0.05% of the science and engineering workforce. While AI/AN have many educational disadvantages, the American Community Survey reports that 9.6% of the AI/AN population do achieve a bachelor's degree or higher. These are the students - underrepresented and underserved in higher education and in bioscience career fields – with whom we work to engage though our Native American Research Internship (NARI) program. NARI is a 10-week summer research internship offered through the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah. NARI provides hands-on basic or clinical research opportunities with established scientists, professional skills training, and cultural mentoring from Native elders, faculty, and students. To date, 92 participants representing 38 tribal nations, 32 colleges/universities, and 22 home states, have participated in the program. Of the 92 participants, 22 (24%) are currently undergraduates working towards a science degree, 19 students have been accepted into graduate school (21%), 17 students have been accepted into medical school (18%), and 70 (76%) have completed a bachelor's degree in science. Tribal elders, who have helped us create NARI, have told us that child health is important to the AI/AN community. We propose to expand the existing NARI program to include research experiences and educational training in child health and human development (NARI- NICHD). By supporting AI/AN undergraduates interested in pursuing biomedical careers focused on child health and human development with the proposed NARI-NICHD program, we will increase AI/AN representation and leadership in the biomedical sciences and fulfill our ultimate goal of narrowing the gap of health disparities among children in AI/AN communities. ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 9859418 - **Project number:** 5R25HD097676-02 - **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH - **Principal Investigator:** Maija Holsti - **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2020 - **Award amount:** $108,000 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2023-12-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9859418 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9859418, The Native American Research Internship (NARI) Summer Program in Child Health (5R25HD097676-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9859418. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*