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American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Coordinating Committee

Mission and Goals

The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Coordinating Committee at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a group of NIDA and NIH staff dedicated to improving AI/AN addiction sciences. The objectives of the committee are to promote AI/AN research and research infrastructure, work with the community to identify research gaps, provide support for developing AI/AN investigators, provide technical assistance and funding to AI/AN researchers, and work to increase the trust and accessibly of NIDA for AI/AN researchers and the AI/AN community at large. The Committee, comprised of NIDA and NIAAA staff, organizes and coordinates efforts to recruit, retain and assist AI/AN addiction science focused investigators.

Major Highlights and Accomplishments

The AIANCC provides support to AI/AN focused researchers through staff outreach and by supporting participation in conferences, symposium presentations, mentoring and networking activities, and technical assistance grant development workshops. Support has been provided in the past for programs at the American Psychological Association, the Society for Prevention Research, the Native Research Network, the Johns Hopkins Center for AI Health Winter Institute, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board Summer Institute, the NARCH Director’s Meeting, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the Behavior Health Center of Excellence: First Annual Behavioral Health Conference, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention: AI/AN Task Force.  In addition, the committee has supported a webinar program.

The AIANCC also develops or participates in major meetings. Recent examples include:

  • Building Bridges: Advancing American Indian and Alaska Native Substance Abuse Research - State of the Science and Grant Development Workshop— The purpose of this meeting was to showcase and assess the state of the science of AI/AN substance abuse research, to network investigators working in this area, and to provide intensive technical assistance to early career investigators focused on AI/AN research. Research community partners were invited to participate in this meeting with research scientists. (October 5-7, 2010). Co funded by NIAAA, NCI and OBSSR.
    http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/meetings-events/2010/10/building-bridges-advancing-american-indianalaska-native-substance-abuse-research-state-sc
  • Making Culture Count— This workshop convened Native Investigators to address questions related to the roles of Indigenous knowledge and Western scientific knowledge in furthering the state of the knowledge related to substance abuse interventions for AI/AN populations (May, 2011). Co-funded by NIAAA
  • The Native Children’s Research Exchange—A meeting grant that facilitates the interaction and exchange of information among scholars studying child development in Native communities, fosters collaborative relationships to advance our understanding of substance use and Native children’s development, and provides mentorship to researchers new to developmental research in Native communities, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of scholars prepared to conduct high quality research on substance use disparities and children’s development in Native communities (yearly meeting through September 2013).
    http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/PublicHealth/research/centers/CAIANH/ncre/Pages/ncre.aspx
  • Small Sample Methodologies—This two-day conference, supported through a meeting grant (R13), focused on 1) developing applied, problem-oriented solutions to concrete design and analytic issues in small sample research using actual data from CANHR and other investigators, 2) encouraging broader application of these methodological innovations to more general problems in multivariate and multilevel statistical techniques, and 3) evaluating the potential role of these innovative methods in describing phenomena, testing theory, and evaluating interventions (August, 2011).

Upcoming Events

  • From May 29 to June 1, 2012, the AI/AN Coordinating Committee will be supporting 11 AI/AN focused researchers by providing funding to attend and participate in special events at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Society of Prevention Research.

Resources and Links

Workgroup Roster (both extramural staff and NIDA staff)

Chair:

  • Kathy Etz
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.402.1749

Members:

  • Aria Crump
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.435.0881
  • Augie Diana
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.443.1942
  • Carmen Rosa
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.443.9830
  • Dionne Jones
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.402.1984
  • Flair Lindsey
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.435.0779
  • Jeffrey Schulden
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.402.1526
  • Judith Arroyo
    National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
    National Institutes of Health
    5635 Fishers Ln
    Rockville, MD  20892
    301.402.0717
  • Lynn Morin
    National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
    National Institutes of Health
    5635 Fishers Ln
    Rockville, MD  20892
    301.402.0176
  • Marcia Scott
    National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
    National Institutes of Health
    5635 Fishers Ln
    Rockville, MD  20892
    301.402.6328
  • Sheri Grabus
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
  • Shoshana Kahana
    National Institute on Drug Abuse
    National Institutes of Health
    6001 Executive Blvd
    Rockville, MD  20892-9589
    301.443.6245

This page was last updated April 2012

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