Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Recruitment and Engagement Core
Status: Current
The Recruitment and Engagement Core will work with local and community partners to develop culturally acceptable practices related to informed consent, confidentiality and data governance to facilitate the collection of biological samples, or biospecimens, from these communities. The aim is to dramatically increase the meager repository of biospecimens from these groups available for dementia research. Existing research, although severely limited, suggests that genetic risk factors for dementia in Native people may differ in important ways from the non-Native populations in which most research has been conducted. One way this will be accomplished is through the unique and collaborative Recruitment and Engagement Core.
A key component of NEAR is its application of novel strategies to increase recruitment and retention of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) people in research. Our team’s “Brain Health Events” are culturally tailored, hands-on workshops designed to provide ADRD education to AI/AN and NHPI Elders. Event activities include various health assessments, education on informed consent, genetic tests, and biospecimen use research, and an invitation to donate a saliva sample. Participants receive a record of their personal data to take home, and they are invited to enroll in an ADRD registry, which notifies them about future opportunities for research participation. Check here for a list of events, including NEAR’s Brain Health Events.
NEAR Events
IREACH Programs
Team Member(s)
-
Cole Allick, PhD, MHA
Core Lead and Pacific Northwest Satellite Center Lead -
Justina Tavana
Core Co-Lead and West Coast Satellite Center Lead -
Grace Shepherd
Research Assistant and Pacific Northwest Satellite Center Program Coordinator -
Clemma Muller, PhD, MS
Methods Lead -
Odile Madesclaire, MPH
Scientific Operations Manager -
Jonna Sanders
Data Entry -
Melissa Vera | Goi’pa Lackdaaw, PhD
Research Assistant Professor -
Marie Emmett, MEd
West Coast Satellite Center Administrator -
Al Bryant, PhD
Southeast Range Satellite Center Lead -
Justin Nelson, PhD
Southeast Range Satellite Center Co-Lead -
Ronny Bell, PhD, MS
Southeast Range Satellite Center Program Coordinator -
Tassy Parker, PhD, RN
Southwest Range Satellite Center Lead -
Nathania Tsosie, MCRP
Southwest Range Satellite Center Co-Lead -
Kandyce Garcia, MEd
Southwest Range Satellite Center Health Science Research Specialist
Focus Areas
- Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
- Engagement
- Recruitment
Associated Projects
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR)
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Administrative Core
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Biospecimen Core
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Methods Core
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Research Project 1 (RP1): INdians Transforming Alzheimer’s Care Training (INTACT)
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Research Project 2 (RP2): ‘IKE Kupuna (Elder Wisdom)
- Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Research Project 3 (RP3): Cognition After Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among Native American People (CATNAP)