Washington State University
University of Colorado, Denver
Stanford University

The Native Alzheimer’s Disease RCMAR’s goal is to describe, understand, intervene on, and mitigate the Alzheimer’s disease health disparities experienced by American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders by funding social and behavioral pilot studies that advance the field, emphasizing the recruitment and mentorship of Native junior and mid-level researchers. NAD-RCMAR Scientists will receive training on methods and analyses so that their work meets high scientific standards, while being culturally appropriate in order to advance Alzheimer’s disease research and increase the number of independent investigators focused on Alzheimer’s disease disparities experienced by our target populations. NAD-RCMAR is administered by Washington State University in collaboration with the University of Colorado–Denver, and Stanford University.

Call for Pilot

Native Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research Research Education Program and Pilot Project Information

PURPOSE

The NAD RCMAR Research Education Program is an

18-month training program in which participants com- plete both a Pilot Study and a grant proposal. The goals of the NAD RCMAR Pilot Studies are to encourage junior investigators to pursue Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and health disparities research, spe- cifically with American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, or Pacific Islanders; to publish articles on their research in peer-reviewed journals; and to obtain further external funding.

No Pilot Study funds will be used to supplement fund- ed research that is already in progress.

ELIGIBILITY AND FUNDING

12- Month Pilot: The maximum total award for a primary data analysis project is $40,000 in direct costs and for a secondary data analysis is $25,000 in direct costs. Applicants may request a maximum of 0.20 FTE in salary along with benefits, in addition to direct research costs as a part of the $40,000 or $25,000 total.

6-Month Grant Writing Training: Applicants may

request up to 0.20 FTE in salary along with benefits for the 6-month training portion of the program.

For further information regarding award amounts, please review the full funding description at ireach.wsu. edu/nad-rcmar/call-for-applications.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Plan to conduct research with American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, or Pacific Island- ers on a topic related to ADRD
• Have an advanced degree in social, behavioral, or health sciences or a similar field
• Be a transitioning postdoctoral fellow, a junior faculty member, or a mid-career scientist newly transitioning into research on ADRD
• Be up to date with human subjects training or commit to completing training before the cohort’s kickoff meeting
• Obtain a letter from their academic supervisor

APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCESS

The NAD RCMAR Pilot Project application and review process consists of two levels. First, eligible applicants will submit Letters of Intent (LOIs) by November 4, 2021.

CONTACT INFORMATION

The LOIs will be reviewed for scientific merit and programmatic priorities by NAD RCMAR Project Leads and our expert Alzheimer’s and related dementias group.

After this initial review of LOIs, we will invite selected applicants to complete and submit a full application, which will be assigned to a team of three NAD RCMAR reviewers with appropriate expertise.

To submit a LOI, please include the following:

• A completed NAD RCMAR Initial Application form
• A list of potential co-investigators and community partners who will assist in the completion of the project
• The intended community, tribe, setting, or dataset for the proposed project
• A 500-word abstract, including:
  • Background
  • Specific Aims
  • Methods and data analysis plan

RESEARCH EDUCATION PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

The 18-month Research Education Program will involve seven components:

1. A two-day introductory meeting on health dis- parities pertaining to ADRD and American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander elders (Month 1)
2. An intensive workshop on ADRD (timing varies)
3. Pilot Study (Months 1-12)
4. Regular in-person meetings in Seattle that include didactic sessions (every 3-4 months)
5. Bi-weekly interactions with mentor team (Months

1-18)

6. A five-day intensive grant-writing workshop (Month 13)
7. A mock review of each trainee’s funding proposal (Month 18)

Please submit Letters of Intent to

nadrcmar.ireach@nullwsu.edu by November 4, 2021.

This research is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number P30AG059295