Comprehensive NAU/AZCC Cancer Research Partnership

面对美国癌症生存率的提高，美国印第安人的癌症死亡率正在增加。文化差异使解决这种差异具有挑战性。美国印第安人医疗保健提供者的缺乏，几乎没有肿瘤学家，加剧了这种情况。美国印第安人患者无法与提供者有效沟通，因此无法接受癌症诊断和治疗，很少被招募参加临床试验。虽然对美国印第安人肿瘤学家的需求是迫切的，但很少有美国印第安人进入医疗保健行业。虽然大多数大学的招生率和保留率都很低，但北方亚利桑那大学（NAU）有着杰出的美国原住民学生毕业历史。然而，在NAU，没有癌症研究核心为美国印第安学生和社区提供癌症教育。在这种伙伴关系中，我们将亚利桑那州癌症中心（AZCC）的研究计划与美国印第安学生培训计划和NAU的环境研究联系起来。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。该提案的目标是（1）在NAU启动强大的癌症研究，以加强教师的职业发展和培养学生的癌症研究基础知识;（2）创建稳定，长期的癌症研究，教育和推广合作;（3）提高机构的有效性在影响癌症的差距在美国印第安人的西南部。研究计划将集中在与采矿业有关的化学品对保留地的致癌影响。美国印第安学生对这些数据有着至关重要的兴趣。因此，这种既得利益大大提高了我们的潜力，招募和留住这些学生，并提供未来的美国印第安人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.