Navajo NARCH Partnership - ABSTRACT – Overall To build healthy nations, Native American (NA) leadership rely on advisors who are scholars and researchers confident in the application of Indigenous and non-Indigenous paths to wellness and health. In solidarity with this larger goal across Indian Country, Navajo NARCH strives to recruit, train, support, and mentor a cadre of NA scholars and health research professionals equipped to advance health in the Navajo Nation (NN) and in Indian Country, more generally. The efforts are co-led by Diné College (a tribal college of NN) and Northern Arizona University (NAU), with guidance from a Community Advisory Board (CAB) representing NN’s public health, medical (Western and Navajo), research, academic, community, and governmental sectors. Overall, Navajo NARCH includes an Administrative Core to manage four other Navajo NARCH components: 1) Career Enhancement Project (CEP) 1 designed to establish a pathway from graduation to work experience with NN Department of Health (NNDOH); 2) CEP 2 grounded in the accomplishments of our previous NARCH (2021-2025) award and newly established partnerships with NN Chapters (local governments) to train students and graduates to assist Chapters with the implementation of community wellness projects; 3) Pilot Project Program (PPP) tailored to mentor and fund Navajo and NA investigators to collect preliminary data to support applications to federal agencies (e.g., NIH, SAMHSA, CDC); and 4) Research Infrastructure Enhancement Project (RIEP) conceived to enhance the operations and development of data repositories for Diné College Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the NN Human Research Review Board (NNHRRB). All components of the Navajo NARCH will be guided by Diné (Navajo) ways of science/knowing: Są’áh Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóo (SNBH), the root and foundation of Navajo philosophy, beliefs, learning, lifestyle, language, and values. The SNBH is applied through the Diné Educational Philosophy (DEP), a process to guide research and practice through Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahat’á (planning), Iiná (living), and Siihasin (reflecting) and k’é, connectedness, kinship, respect, and responsibility, to create collegial academic and research mentorship environments. Overall, Navajo NARCH aims to: 1) Develop Native American scientists and health professionals through culturally relevant educational opportunities designed to educate, challenge and mentor scholars at the undergraduate, graduate and early-career professional levels to attain health research skills needed to drive innovative approaches to health and wellness in NN and Indian Country; 2) Enhance the NN research infrastructure by coordinating a PPP for NA scholars and by supporting the Diné College IRB and NNHRRB to advance their procedures and archival processes through strategic planning and developing a truly Diné research agenda; and 3) Foster the continued growth of relationships between Diné College, NAU, NNDOH, NNHRRB, Indian Health Service, and other NN institutions to meet the health needs of the Navajo people.
