The Native American Research Internship (NARI) Summer Program in Child Health

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Project Summary / Abstract Compared to the general U.S. population, the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations are young and growing. One-third of the AI/AN population is younger than 18 years. AI/AN young people face health disparities which start in utero and continue into adulthood. AI/AN represent ~1% of the United States population but only 0.3% of physicians and medical school faculty, and 0.05% of the science and engineering workforce. While AI/AN have many educational disadvantages, the American Community Survey reports that 9.6% of the AI/AN population do achieve a bachelor's degree or higher. These are the students - underrepresented and underserved in higher education and in bioscience career fields – with whom we work to engage though our Native American Research Internship (NARI) program. NARI is a 10-week summer research internship offered through the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah. NARI provides hands-on basic or clinical research opportunities with established scientists, professional skills training, and cultural mentoring from Native elders, faculty, and students. To date, 92 participants representing 38 tribal nations, 32 colleges/universities, and 22 home states, have participated in the program. Of the 92 participants, 22 (24%) are currently undergraduates working towards a science degree, 19 students have been accepted into graduate school (21%), 17 students have been accepted into medical school (18%), and 70 (76%) have completed a bachelor's degree in science. Tribal elders, who have helped us create NARI, have told us that child health is important to the AI/AN community. We propose to expand the existing NARI program to include research experiences and educational training in child health and human development (NARI- NICHD). By supporting AI/AN undergraduates interested in pursuing biomedical careers focused on child health and human development with the proposed NARI-NICHD program, we will increase AI/AN representation and leadership in the biomedical sciences and fulfill our ultimate goal of narrowing the gap of health disparities among children in AI/AN communities.