Research Core

PROJECT SUMMARY Decades of research has failed to reduce American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) drug and other substance use harms in the United States. These persistent challenges call for new systems and methods to turn the tide on AI/AN substance use morbidity and mortality. The Research Core will serve as a central resource to support methods and analyses for CIRCLE's research and evaluation projects designed to reduce and prevent substance use morbidity and mortality. The Research Core is led by a skilled team who will provide operational support in substance use research methodologies; community partnership and responsive engagement; substance use epidemiology; longitudinal, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods analyses; multilevel and mixture modeling; implementation science; and data management, sovereignty, and stewardship in line with CIRCLE's overall aims and objectives. In addition, the Research Core will advance four methods innovation projects designed to: (1) conceptualize and operationalize key constructs for addressing problematic substance use within AI/AN communities and settings; (2) characterize novel outcomes and measurement approaches for concepts of pre-addiction and recovery in AI/AN communities; (3) enhance understanding of relative impact of interventions, implementation, and policies to inform the most efficient approaches to substance use reduction with AI/AN communities; and (4) create a repository of measures and associated resources that can be used by other communities in the future. The Research Core will also support innovative pilot work by early-career investigators from varying disciplines and help them develop pilot research into robust lines of extramurally funded research. Finally, the Research Core will support dissemination of CIRCLE's methodological advances and research findings in collaboration with the Administrative Core.