Research Program
Scientific Inquiry and Practice-Based Evidence for the Health of American Indians and Alaska Natives
Native American Research Centers for Health
(NARCH)
- NARCH VI
- 12/22/2008: NARCH VI
- Announcement Published In Federal Register
Receipt Date: 5/14/2009. - formal NARCH VI Announcement requesting grant applications has now been published in the Federal Register. The receipt date for completed NARCH V application submissions is May 14, 2009. The NARCH VI grants would begin in Fiscal Year 2010. A Technical Assistance program is being developed.
- To sign up for technical assistance please email narch@ihs.gov and include complete contact information, including your email address, in the body of the email. Additional technical assistance information will be published on the NARCH VI page, and emailed as it becomes available. For further information please email: narch@ihs.gov.
NARCH Background
The Indian Health Service (IHS) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health have a joint partnership supporting the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH). The NARCH initiative, started in the year 2000, supports partnerships between AI/AN Tribes or Tribally-based organizations and institutions that conduct intensive academic-level biomedical, behavioral and health services research. This funding mechanism develops opportunities for conducting research, research training and faculty development to meet the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. As a developmental process, Tribes and Tribal Organizations are able to build a research infrastructure, including a core component for capacity building and the possibility of reducing the many health disparities so prevalent in AI/AN communities.
Each NARCH applicant’s grant undergoes the rigorous peer review process established by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR); NIH/CSR priority scores determine those research projects with the best science, as well as the best designs and strategies to meet the objectives of the NARCH program.
Specifically, the purposes of the NARCH initiative are:
- to develop a cadre of AI/AN scientists and health professionals engaged in biomedical, clinical, behavioral and health services research who will be competitive in securing NIH and AHRQ funding;
- to increase the capacity of both research-intensive institutions and AI/AN organizations to work in partnership to reduce distrust by AI/AN communities and people toward research;
- to encourage competitive research linked to the health priorities of the AI/AN organizations and to reducing health disparities.
Additional benefits include:
- local and regional professional and administrative employment for American Indians and Alaska Natives
- training and education for biomedical, behavioral and health services research positions.
- experience and training in writing successful PHS grant applications
- Research that is directly linked to health concerns articulated by the Tribal community
The grant for these activities goes from IHS to the Tribal partner, which then subcontracts with the research intensive institution(s). This keeps the community in charge of the research, but draws on the university for all the expertise that may be necessary to accomplish the scientific and training goals of the NARCH. There is no research line in the IHS budget. The IHS therefore depends on the research agencies (such as NIH and AHRQ) for all of the funding for NARCH. NIGMS funds the bulk of the research training and the core activities of each NARCH. The NARCH program then looks to the other institutes and centers to fund research projects that fall into their scientific areas.
For more information regarding the need for Tribal/Partner-sponsored research infrastructure and future funding opportunities, please contact Dr. Alan Trachtenberg, NARCH Project Officer at 301-443-0578.
| Current NARCH Centers (NARCH III & IV), Websites and Projects | Funding Partner | Principal Investigator & Contact Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board (AAIHB) | Marianna Kennedy (505) 764-0036 X107 | |
AAIHB
|
5015 Prospect Avenue NE |
|
| Listening to Each Other-Substance Abuse Intervention | NIDA | |
| Tribal Cancer Control Project | NCI | |
| Juvenile Justice Program: Incarcerated Youth at Risk | NIGMS | |
| Student Development Project | NIGMS | |
| Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) | NCMHD | |
| 2) White Mountain Apache Tribe | Mariddie J. Craig (928) 521-2230 | |
| White Mountain Apache Tribe
OR Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - Center for American Indian Health
|
NCMHD |
OR Center for American Indian Health (CAIH) 615 N. Wolfe Street, E8132; |
| Youth suicide prevention using community-based, participatory research | ORWH | |
| Prevention of pneumococcal spread within Apache families | NIAID | |
| Student and Faculty Development Projects | NIGMS | |
| 3) Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) | Anne P. Lanier (907) 729-3663 | |
| ANTHC
|
OR 4000 Ambassador Drive |
|
| Autoimmune Liver Disease in Alaska Natives | NIAID | |
| Nicotine Exposure and Metabolism in Alaska Natives | NIDA | |
| Tobacco-Free Alaska Native Families | NIGMS | |
| Bronchiectasis Observational Study in Alaska Native Children | NHLBI | |
| Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Among Al/AN Infants | NIAAA | |
| 4) Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmens' Health Board (AATCHB) | Francine Romero (505) 834-3028 | |
| AATCHB
|
epiromero@aatchb.org or fromero@aastec.org OR 1770 Rand Road |
|
| Predicting Insulin Resistance in American Indian Youth (Diabetes and pre-diabetes in Northern Plains tribal youth) | NIDDK | |
| Screening for Asthma Among Children in Northern Plains Tribal Communities | NHLBI | |
| Validation Study of Depression and Anxiety Measures with Northern Plains Indians | NIDA | |
| 5) California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB) | James A. Crouch (919) 929-9761 | |
| CRIHB
|
OR 4400 Auburn Blvd., 2nd floor |
|
| Variation in Preventable Hospitalization Outcomes in Tribal Health Programs
|
AHRQ | |
| 6) Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) | Thomas M. Becker (503) 494-1175 | |
| NPAIHB
|
OR 527 SW Hall, Suite 300
|
|
| Internet-Assisted Diabetes Care in Rural AI/AN (Study of self management of Type 2 Diabetes) | NIGMS | |
| Faculty Development Project | NIGMS | |
| Student Development Project | NIGMS | |
| Summer Research Training Institute | NCMHD | |
| 7) Black Hills Center For American Indian Health (BLCAIH) | Jeffrey A. Henderson (605) 348-6100 | |
| BLCAIH |
Sandy Albertson 701 St. Joseph St., Suite 204 |
|
| Contextual Issues in Traditional Lakota Healing | NCCAM | |
| Theory-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Intervention | NCI | |
| Clinical & Public Health Research Training Project | NIGMS | |
| 8) Navajo Nation/Dine' College | Anselm Roanhorse (928) 871-6350/6068 | |
| Dine College |
Navajo Nation Division of Health OR Dine College, Center for Dine Studies |
|
| Navajo Ethno-Medical Encyclopedia Research Project: | NCCAM | |
| 9) Indian Health Council, Inc. (Southern California) | Daniel Calac (760) 749-1410 | |
| CANARCH OR Indian Health
|
OR P.O. Box 406 |
|
| Burden and resilience among caregivers of frail elders | ORWH | |
| Student Development Project | NIGMS | |
| 10) Oklahoma NARCH (ONARCH): Cherokee/Chickasaw | Tina M. Cooper (580) 421-6260 | |
| ONARCH
OR http://www.chickasaw.net/services/258_287.htm
|
Chickasaw Nation Health System 1001 North Country Club Road |
|
| Clinical Trial to Improve Outcomes in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome | NIAAA | |
| Student Development Project | NIGMS | |
| Understanding Rheumatic Disease in Oklahoma Tribal Members | NIAMS | |
| The ONARCH Faculty Development & Mentoring Program | NIGMS | |
| 11) InterTribal Council of Arizona, Inc. | John R. Lewis (602) 258-4822 | |
| ITCAZ Online
|
2214 No. Central Ave., Suite 100 |
|
| Faculty Development Project and Research Resource Core | NIGMS | |
| Student Development Project | NIGMS | |
| 12) Southcentral Foundation ( Alaska) | Ruth Etzel (907) 729-4955 | |
| Southcentral Foundation (AK)
|
raetzel@southcentralfoundation.com 4501 Diplomacy Drive; Suite 200 |
|
| Ethical and Cultural Implications of Specimen Banking among Alaska Native People | NHGRI | |
| 13) Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC) | Adrienne Laverdure (715) 588-3371 | |
| GLITC
|
NCI |
adrienne_laverdure@hotmail.com OR 2932 Highway 47 N. |
| Breast Cancer Risk and Screening Patterns in Bemidji Area American Indian Women | NIGMS | |
| GL NARCH Student development Program | NIGMS | |
| NARCH II | ||
| 14) Confederated Tribes of Siletz | Tina Retasket (541) 444-8210 | |
| Five Tribes Behavioral Risk Factor Study | NIGMS |
Confederated Tribes of Siletz
|
Partnering Agencies, Institutes, Centers and Offices
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
- National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
- National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
- NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
- NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
- NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)
