Comprehensive NAU/AZCC Cancer Research Partnership

面对美国癌症存活率的提高，美洲印第安人的癌症死亡率正在上升。文化差异使得解决这种差异具有挑战性。美国印第安人缺乏医疗服务提供者，几乎没有肿瘤学家，这使情况更加复杂。美国印第安病人，无法有效地与医疗服务提供者沟通，被隔离在癌症诊断和治疗之外，很少被招募到临床试验中。因此，虽然对美洲印第安人肿瘤学家的需求非常迫切，但很少有美洲印第安人进入医疗保健行业。虽然大多数大学的招生和留校率都很低，但北亚利桑那大学（NAU）在毕业美国原住民学生方面有着杰出的历史。然而，在NAU，没有癌症研究中心为美国印第安学生和社区提供癌症教育。在这一伙伴关系中，我们将把亚利桑那癌症中心（AZCC）的研究项目与国立农业大学的美国印第安学生培训项目和环境研究项目联系起来。虽然存在非正式的教师互动，但目前没有全面的计划来加强NAU的癌症研究，或协调NAU和UofA/AZCC的美洲印第安学生招聘和保留。本提案的目标是：(1)在NAU开展强有力的癌症研究，以加强教师的职业发展和培养学生的癌症研究基础；(2)建立稳定、长期的癌症研究、教育和推广合作；(3)提高影响西南美洲印第安人癌症差异的制度有效性。研究项目将重点关注与保留区采矿业有关的化学物质的致癌作用。美国印第安学生对这些数据非常感兴趣。因此，这种既得利益极大地提高了我们招募和留住这些学生的潜力，并为未来的美国印第安人提供癌症研究人员和肿瘤学家。该计划由每个机构的行政、规划和发展核心指导。研究活动包括基础科学、癌症教育和社区外展组成部分。

In the face of improved US cancer survival, cancer mortality in American Indians is increasing. Cultural differences make addressing this disparity challenging. The paucity of American Indian health care providers, almost none oncologists, compounds the situation. American Indian patients, unable to effectively communicate with providers, become isolated from cancer diagnosis and treatment and are rarely recruited into clinical trials. While the need for American Indian oncologists is therefore urgent, few American Indians enter health care professions. While most universities have dismal recruitment and retention rates, Northern Arizona University(NAU) has a distinguished history of graduating Native American students. At NAU, however, there is no cancer research core to provide cancer education to American Indian students and communities. In this partnership, we will link research programs of the Arizona Cancer Center (AZCC) with American Indian student training programs and environmental research at NAU. While informal faculty interaction exists, there is currently no comprehensive plan to enhance cancer research at NAU or to coordinate American Indian student recruitment and retention at NAU and UofA/AZCC. The objectives of this proposal are to (1) initiate robust cancer research at NAU to enhance faculty career development and train students in cancer research fundamentals; (2) create stable, long-term cancer research, education, and outreach collaboration; and (3) improve institutional effectiveness in impacting the disparity in cancer in American Indians of the Southwest. Research programs will focus on the carcinogenic effects of chemicals associated with the mining industry on reservations. American Indian students have a vital interest in the data. Thus this vested interest greatly enhances our potential to recruit and retain these students and to provide future American Indian cancer researchers and oncologists. The program is guided by administrative, planning and developmental cores at each institution. Research activities include basic science, cancer education, and community outreach components.