TULSA, Okla.—The Native Children’s Research Exchange (NCRE) Scholars Program is launching its 14th cohort of early-career Native American researchers with four new Scholars who partner with Native communities to study substance use, its impact on child development, and strategies for intervention and prevention.
The cohort kick-off meeting takes place Nov. 17–21 in Tulsa. It will include career planning and cultural and community connections with members of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and Cherokee Nation. The 13th cohort of NCRE Scholars will also meet for a grant-writing workshop.
Since 2012, NCRE Scholars has provided career development and mentorship to 41 emerging Scholars, building an essential pipeline of researchers who can respond to the health priorities of Native communities. Native American researchers have long been underrepresented in the field, yet their cultural knowledge and understanding of community context are vital for moving the field forward.
“The NCRE Scholars program helps scholars in the early stages of their academic career hone their research skills, develop a network of community and academic collaborators and colleagues, and receive crucial mentoring from established faculty members,” said Michelle Sarche, a program co-lead and professor at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. “Past Scholars are now mentors and leaders in Native American child development and substance use research, contributing to work that will endure beyond any one of us.”
The program is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and is led by Sarche, Jerreed Ivanich, and Nancy Whitesell, assistant professor and professor, respectively, at the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
The latest cohort members are:
- Tess Abrahamson-Richards, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe, a Ph.D. candidate in social welfare at the University of Washington, and the director of data sovereignty at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services
- Anna Kawennison Fetter, a member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (Snipe Clan), a licensed counseling psychologist, and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke School of Medicine
- Jenna Murray, an Eastern Shoshone scientist, fourth-year M.D./Ph.D. student in the University of Utah’s Medical Scientist Training Program, and an aspiring obstetrician and gynecologist
- Andrea Wiglesworth, a dual-enrolled citizen of the Seneca Cayuga Nation (deer clan) and Shawnee Tribe, recent graduate with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program, and associate investigator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.
Read more about their accomplishments and research interests.
“In my community-based dissertation research, providing better behavioral health support, including for challenges related to substance use, to Native mothers during the perinatal period has emerged as an important priority,” Abrahamson-Richards said. “There is a gap in what is available that is tailored to this time of life and grounded in culturally safe best practices. I am so grateful for the opportunity to access mentored support in pursuing continued intervention research work in this area through the NCRE Scholars program, to build community with my cohort, and to have dedicated space for writing and professional development.”
The program is open to Native American (including American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) junior faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and Ph.D. students in psychology, sociology, public health, social work, anthropology, education, or related fields.
Over the course of 18 months, Scholars work with program leaders to create career development plans that include developing a research paper or grant application. They also participate in training opportunities, conduct data collection and/or analyses, and present research at national conferences.
“We are preparing the next generation of Native Scholars to work in partnership with Tribal communities to understand and address substance use and its impact on Native children’s development,” Sarche said. “None of us does this work alone. We do it in relationship with community; we do it in relationship with one another.”
Scholars from past cohorts include Tribal leaders, psychologists, scientists, university faculty, a Tribal epidemiologist, and more.