Undergraduate Readying for Burgeoning Research for American Indian Neuroscientists

美洲原住民(NA)进入科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)劳动力队伍的人数是所有种族中比例最小的。与此同时，这一群体面临着巨大的健康差距，其中许多与大脑健康直接相关。NA社区神经科学相关健康问题的教育和认识涉及三个相互关联的挑战：缺乏与NA社区文化相适应的劳动力，系统性缺乏现场生物医学研究的能力，以及对西方科学研究和研究人员的严重不信任。拟议的方案侧重于培养具有文化能力和社区信任的NA卫生专业人员和学术研究人员，这些要素对于消除STEM领域的健康差距和少数族裔代表至关重要。在应对这些挑战时，我们首先认识到，许多美洲原住民学生从根本上不同的哲学角度来看待世界和研究世界的方法。与高度简约主义的西方模型相比，传统的朴素认识论模型更具整体性和叙事性。重要的是，在这些模型中，有生命的和无生命的实体是相互联系和相互依赖的，不应该被视为教学上的缺陷，而是一种天生的力量，可以让这些学生构建和扩展当前科学知识的复杂心理模型。与我们在迪内学院的合作伙伴一起，我们开发了一个教育项目，将既定的最佳教学实践与神经科学研究学习经验相结合。通过将纳瓦霍文化的整体观点与神经科学的科学问题为基础的方法相结合，我们将推进和丰富这两种观点。这里提出的培训计划旨在创造一个渠道，让纳瓦霍学生从迪内学院晋升到一流研究型大学的神经科学专业，创建一个以文化为基础的STEM教育模式，同时加强NIH的劳动力和文化多样性。我们将通过一系列相互关联的目标来实现这一目标。我们的第一个具体目标是在迪内学院和亚利桑那大学之间开发一个合作培训计划。具体地说，我们将重点发展迪内学院学生的神经科学素养，为他们提供专业发展机会和对学术界的归属感。我们的第二个具体目标是建立迪内学院教授神经科学方法和进行独立科学研究的机构能力。我们的第三个具体目标是通过与社区长老的一系列接触和以神经科学为重点的公共参与活动，在迪内·纳瓦霍人和神经科学界之间重新建立信任。

The number of Native Americans (NA) entering the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce is the smallest proportion of any ethnicity. At the same time, this group faces tremendous health disparities, with many directly linked to brain health. Education in, and awareness of, neuroscience-related health issues in NA communities involves three inter-related challenges: lack of a workforce culturally attuned to NA communities, systemic lack of capacity for on-site biomedical research, and significant mistrust of western scientific research and researchers. The proposed programs focus on developing NA health professionals and academic researchers who possess both cultural competence and trust from their communities, elements critical to eliminating health disparities and minority representation in STEM fields. In addressing these challenges, we first recognize that many Native American students approach the world and the means to investigate it from fundamentally different philosophical perspectives. In contrast to highly reductionist Western models, traditional NA epistemological models are more holistic and narrative-based. Importantly, these models, in which animate and inanimate entities are connected and interdependent, should not be seen as pedagogic deficits, but rather as an innate strength that may allow these students to construct and expand upon sophisticated mental models of current scientific knowledge. Together with our partners at Diné College, we have developed an educational program that integrates established best pedagogical practices with neuroscience research learning experience. By integrating the holistic perspective of the Navajo culture with the scientific problem-based approach of neuroscience, we will advance and enrich both perspectives. The training program proposed herein is designed to create a pipeline of Navajo students to advance from Diné College to neuroscience programs at top tier research universities, creating a model of culturally grounded STEM education while bolstering NIH workforce and cultural diversity. We will accomplish this goal through a series of interrelated aims. Our first specific aim is to develop a cooperative training program between Diné College and the University of Arizona. Specifically, we will focus on developing the neuroscience literacy of Diné College Students, providing them with professional development opportunities and a sense of belonging within the academic community. Our second specific aim is to build Diné College’s institutional capacity to teach neuroscience methods and conduct independent scientific research. Our third specific aim is focused on re- establishing trust between the Diné Navajo and the neuroscience community through a series of engagements with Community Elders and neuroscience-focused public engagement events.