Akwesasne Center for Health Research

Project summary The purpose of the Administrative Core (AC) is to provide and integrate community-driven process with scientific leadership, administrative support, and fiscal management along with program evaluation expertise for the proposed, Akwesasne Research Center for Health or ARCH. Projects include a culturally adapted lifestyles program, LIVE (Life, Indigenous, Virtual, Enhancement) project for liver wellness; an environmental project tied to population health, and a student enhancement program that connects young Indigenous scholars to community and school based opportunities in cancer research. The AC will be responsible for implementing systems of routine communication among members of the ARCH to support planning, information sharing, and evaluation. Aims include project management and fiscal administration; coordination of activities and communication; research planning and evaluation; coordination of dissemination and implementation into communities. The AC also will report to the National Institutes of Health Indian Health Services, the Roswell Park Center for Indigenous Cancer Research, and an inter- tribal board. Further, the AC will provide oversight of and communication between Roswell Park and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe regarding research ethics, adherence to timelines, data integrity, updates, policy change, community-based research processes, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions and tribal research protocol communication planning. Lastly, the AC will facilitate the exchange and sharing of ideas, information, data, materials, and other resources within Roswell Park, ARCH programs, and ultimately, dissemination of findings publicly to the St. Regis Mohawk community and then to Indigenous communities societies nationally and internationally.