UA CE Project: Enhancing Early Career Research Ethics to Support Indigenous Research Governance

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PROJECT SUMMARY: FACULTY/RESEARCHER CAREER ENHANCEMENT PROJECT – Enhancing early career research ethics to support Indigenous data governance in Arizona The proposed faculty/researcher enhancement project, the “Indigenous Data Governance Fellows” program, targets early career faculty at the three public universities in Arizona (AZ) in a broad array of disciplines related to health research with tribes and Indigenous communities in AZ. Health research as a transdisciplinary field includes researchers who may have received ethics training in their own disciplines, yet many working with tribal nations in AZ have not been trained in Indigenous research ethics or data governance practices. This project intends to fill knowledge gaps in research ethics with Indigenous rights holders to promote a future of more equitable science practices that protect Indigenous communities and their data. Using a cohort model with early career faculty, the project will train 60 Fellows over 4 years. This project will also enhance relationships among tribal serving researchers at AZ universities, enhance tribally driven research, and help develop university policies and practices. This project links to ongoing research work on tribal, federal, and university law, policy, and ethics for ethical Indigenous research and data governance. Our long-term goal is to enhance tribal research and data governance in AZ. Our project objective is to equip early career researchers at the three public universities in AZ with knowledge, tools, and perspectives to conduct research and steward data in ways that comport with the Arizona Board of Regents Tribal Consultation Policy, university policies, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights and interests. Our rationale is that as Indigenous Peoples increasingly engage with the growing fields of health research, open data, and open science, researchers require information to enhance their own Indigenous data governance practices for ethical research with communities. We plan to accomplish our project objective by pursuing the following three specific aims: 1) Train early career faculty/researchers in ethical research and data practices to enhance tribally-driven, community-based research relationships by leveraging existing, cutting edge, unique coursework and training at the University of Arizona and by growing a community of practice through four cohorts totaling 60 scholars; 2: Engage tribal leaders, staff, community practitioners, and tribally-engaged researchers in AZ on Indigenous data governance topics; and 3: Disseminate learnings from the Indigenous Data Governance Fellows program. Each cohort will train 15 early stage investigators using a mix of collaborative, network cohort team meetings and innovative, unique curriculum and training on tribal sovereignty, research relationships, mentoring Native students and Indigenous data sovereignty, governance, and research topics.