Building research capacity within tribal organizations for research to improve the health of Alaska Native children

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Project Summary/Abstract Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was formed in December 1997 as a nonprofit IRS 501(c)(3) organization to manage statewide health services and programs for Alaska Native and American Indian people. ANTHC will continue to participate in multicenter clinical trials through ECHO ISPCTN with Southcentral Foundation (SCF), the largest regional tribal health organization, serving the 107,400 square mile Anchorage Service Unit, and co-managing the Alaska Native Medical Center. In addition, we will build research capacity within the rural Alaska Tribal Health System (ATHS), by bringing the remote tribal organization, Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC), into the ECHO ISPCTN. We will build on our ongoing consultations with tribal leaders, clinical directors from all Alaska tribal organizations, and our community advisory board, the ANTHC Research Consultation Committee, to identify and evaluate clinical trials which are congruent with tribal research priorities. We will collaborate with current ECHO ISPCTN partners on implementing and developing joint research projects which use the strengths of each organization. Our organizational structure will consist of ANTHC as the lead organization with SCF as sub-awardee and YKHC as a collaborator on future individual projects. The ANTHC co-PI Rosalyn Singleton, works in the ANTHC Clinical and Research Services (C&RS) Department in the Division of Community Health Services. Dr. Singleton will lead the project and mentor the SCF co-PI, Melissa Hammes, who will take increasing responsibility for research oversight during the first 2 years, and lead the research team during the last 3 years with Dr. Singleton moving to a consultant role. The ANTHC research nurse coordinator, Amy Swango-Wilson, works in the C&RS, and will train research nurses and will oversee research budgets and operations. The co-PIs and Senior Faculty Development leader Jennifer Shaw and Senior Co-investigator Matthew Hirschfeld will collaborate with the ECHO ISPCTN Data Coordination and Operations Center (DCOC), American Indian/Alaska Native Clinical and Translational Research Program (AI/AN CTRP), to offer training opportunities and research development for the Junior Faculty. The SCF Senior Co-investigator will join the Senior Faculty Development Leader and PI as core Senior Faculty with special focus on providing consultation and technical assistance on research design, informed consents, and tribal research process and policies for Junior Faculty and the Alaska ECHO ISPCTN research team.