WE'RE HIRING!
Need a summer job? Apply to be a NARCH Intern! Complete a project of your choice Open to American Indian/Alaska Native students pursuing Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral degrees Earn up to $2,000 for work completed on an hourly basis To find out more, contact Ashley Thomas, MPH Sr. Program Manager athomas@npaihb.org
NPAIHB www.npaihb.org
DR. BECKER'S MESSAGE Fighting Multiple Pandemics: How the NARCH Program is Helping Out. A funny Progressive Insurance commercial that airs on TV warns us to avoid becoming like our ‘out-of-step’ parents in our behaviors and attitudes as we grow old. In my own case, I would like to be more like my parents in many ways. I have not forgotten that my dad would frequently complain that the world was going nuts. I wonder what he would say now? In addition to Covid-19, we have plenty of other crises, both within and outside of Indian country. If we concentrate on tribal health challenges (while not forgetting the remarkable resilience that we have seen among tribal peoples for centuries), we continue to face rising diabetes and heart disease rates, rising behavioral health crises, huge Hepatitis C rates, off-the-charts chlamydia rates, high cancer rates for certain sites among many tribes, and continued injury morbidity and mortality that lead the nation. From a global standpoint, we have war in Eastern Europe that will have wide-reaching effects. We are already feeling the ripples, and in typical fashion, innocent civilians are bearing the brunt of the war in that part of the planet. So, what does any of this have to do with us in the NARCH program? Plenty. Almost all of the readers of the NW NARCH newsletter have chosen a chunk of the health-related challenges that they/you are trying to improve. In our own group of graduate students and cancer prevention fellows, we have bright young minds focused on all of the problems mentioned above that affect tribal persons’ health…including many areas of investigation that I did not mention. To expand the list, some of our NW NARCHies are working on cancer survivorship, cancer etiology, violence prevention, prevention of intestinal worm infections, environmental contamination of food supplies, water contamination, health effects from uranium mining, anti-microbial resistance in poultry, diabetes prevention, behavioral neuro-endocrinology, and much more. Many of you are doing very impressive work, and the funding agency is giving a lot of positive feedback on their investment in you. You are all aware that NIH keeps track of American Indian and Alaska Native graduates in the biological and population health sciences. In the past decade, most of the new graduates have come through our program in some way or another. We are proud of that, and, proud of them/you. Despite increasing global health, regional health, and tribal health challenges, we need to continue to ‘do our bit’. All of you have probably heard me say that our day-to-day work lives (or student lives) are like pushing a barge down a canal…you put your shoulder into it and push. At the end of one day, you cannot see much progress. At the end of a month, you can see some headway. At the end of a year, you can see that you have a lot to be proud of. So, keep pushing.
NW NARCH
Spring/Summer | 2022
NEWS
Saydie Sago (Mescalero Apache) I graduated in Spring 2021 from the University of Colorado, Boulder and was accepted to the Integrative Physiology Ph.D. program at UC Boulder. I will be continuing my work with the anti-inflammatory and stress-resilient soil bacteria strains, M. vaccae and M. aurum, and investigating the neuroimmunoregulatory mechanism of how these strains work for future mental health treatments. Jonathan Credo (Navajo) I graduated with my Ph.D. from Northern Arizona University in the Spring. My immediate plans for the next two years is to complete my M.D. training and graduate with that degree by Spring 2024. Ashley Wirth (Diné, Navajo) Over the past year I conducted research analyzing the effectiveness of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board Indian Country HCV ECHO program. This research helps to inform patients and providers of the characteristics of patients presented at HCV ECHO and the holistic, evidence-based treatment recommendations provided at ECHO. Once I complete my MCR over the summer, I will be returning to medical school at OHSU to complete the last two years of my medical degree. Joshua W. Brown (Gros Ventre/Assiniboine) I am completing a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Montana. My dissertation examines Salish people's food system, foodscape, dietary patterns, and associated health outcomes within the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation. After completing my dissertation, I will begin three-year postdoctoral research with the Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) housed at the University of Colorado. I will focus on Indigenous data and storytelling that contribute to ELOKA's goal of enhancing the use and usefulness of Indigenous data and data management tools while upholding Indigenous data sovereignty. I will also work with network partners, including the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network and the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance. Jacy Hutchinson (Rampart Village) My research explores Alaska Native narratives on internalized oppression and resistance. I am currently seeking a PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Anchorage Alaska. After graduating this summer, I will start a postdoctoral position with the Alaska Tribal Fellowship in Rural Health Psychology. I plan to stay in Alaska and focus my career primarily in serving the Alaska Native population. Delilah Robb (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) I am completing a Master of Public Health in the Maternal and Child Health Program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and expect to graduate in May 2022. I conducted a mixed-mode cross-sectional study investigating Human Papillomavirus knowledge, attitudes, and cultural beliefs of American Indian men.
KUDOS TO OUR GRADUATES!
SUMMER RESEARCH TRAINING INSTITUTE
The Summer Research Training Institute (SRTI) was one of the earliest summer research training programs (0n the West Coast) available to AI/AN graduate students and community health professionals. The three-week training program consisted of week-long, intensive courses and plenty of opportunities to meet new people & network. After a two year hiatus, the SRTI is back with a few twists! SRTI goes Virtual! While we have all been virtual over the past few years, this is the first year that the SRTI will be virtual! The pandemic has been unpredictable to say the least. Planning events requires more flexibility and adaptability than ever before. To ensure everyone's safety and a successful rollout of the SRTI with the fewest hiccups possible, we decided to offer our classes virtually this year. This decision was made in fall 2021. While there is no substitute for being in person, we believe that a virtual training can reach more people and will be the safest option in these unpredictable times. Applied Biostatistics & Data Science track New in 2022, this two-year track offers AI/AN health professionals and students an opportunity to advance their skills in study design and data analysis techniques in an intensive two-week summer program (during 2022 & 2023 SRTI) and interactive virtual seminars the rest of the year. Participants will complete a mentored capstone project at the end of their experience. Skill-building courses We continue to offer short, skill-building courses, but the 2022 SRTI will offer more options for individuals who may have limited extra time to spare. The 2022 SRTI will offer courses varying in length from one day to one week. Topics include: Epidemiology 101 Grant Writing Designing Survey Instruments Data Wrangling & Summarizing in R Introduction to ArcGIS Indian Health Policy Data Visualization Program Evaluation Statistical Methods Lunch Seminars Prepare your lunch and tune into some great speakers for our Lunch Seminars! Wednesday June 22 at noon (Pacific time) - Dr. Ramona Beltran will present on using storywork and arts-based methods as decolonizing approaches to health research with and for Indigenous communities. Wednesday, June 29 at noon (Pacific time) - Dr. Mica Estrada will describe findings from her research program in which she longitudinally tracks and examines what types of mentorship, training experiences and supports are more likely to result in students integrating into their professional fields and persisting in STEM career pathways. Further, she will talk about how kindness cues that affirm social inclusion impact the integration experience for historically underrepresented college students, faculty and administrators in STEM training and professional settings.
By: Grazia Cunningham, MPH
PROGRAM IN FOCUS:
"I took acting classes for the first time during the pandemic (post vaccines, with masks of course —it was a lot of fun and a great way to creatively express myself outside of work." -Ashley Hoover, Communicable Disease Epidemiologist "I picked up running and being a plant mom during the pandemic. I’ve also picked up roadtripping and car camping. I rigged my Subaru Outback to be a roadtripping machine. I’ve driven the Alaska-Canada highway twice now, road tripped all around Washington, eastern Arizona, and Southcentral + Interior Alaska, and I’m planning to explore Oregon and northern California this spring-through-fall." -Maleah Nore, THRIVE Project Coordinator "I started playing guitar with my wife (who plays bass) and started digital illustration." -Tyanne Connor, Native BOOST Temp Project Coordiantor "Beekeeping!" - Shoshoni Walker, NWTEC-IVAC Project Manager "I was accepted into OSU's Master Beekeeper program." - Grazia Cunningham, NW NARCH Project Manager
ASK ME ANYTHING
"What new hobbies did the NPAIHB staff pick up during the pandemic?" - Amanda Hunter
Monoprint by Victoria Warren-Mears
"I started learning siwmming." -Meena Patel, Native CARS Biostatistician "Learning my traditional language and we got a miniature cocker spaniel." -Sue Steward, Deputy Director "I began to do some serious genealogy for my family, especially since some of the older relatives were passing on. I actually got some cool stories from some of them about what reservation life in Washington state was like in the 1920’s. It was a lot wilder than I had expected." - Jim Fry, Information Services Director "I am learning to build mechanical keyboards." -Andrew Shogren, TCHP Project Technical Operations Director "I started sour dough bread making, including the sourdough starter. Also, I began doing monoprint art." -Victoria Warren-Mears, Tribal Epi-Center Director
Maleah Nore
Listen as Dr. Becker answers several of our Fellows' questions!
BE INSPIRED
Dr. Linda Burhansstipanov shares her career journey and offers advice to researchers who are just starting out.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers S06GM123543, S06GM127164, and 1S06GM141002. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
CONTACT US! Ashley Thomas, MPH NW NARCH Sr. Program Manager athomas@npaihb.org