Great Lakes NARCH 13 Capacity 1

ABSTRACT: GLNARCH Research Capacity Building The overall goal of the Great Lakes Tribal College Research Network TCRN is to build a sustainable research network through formalized collaboration and targeted co-development of Tribal College and University (TCU) research infrastructure. This innovative model will strengthen the current fledgling TCU association into a robust, interactive cooperative network that will include all 9 Bemidji TCUs. As TCRN grows and matures in a stepwise manner under this proposal, it will lead to greater inter-college faculty familiarity, professional relationships, and Network identity of otherwise isolated, rural institutions. This will enable collaborative projects where research capacity can be shared to the benefit of more than one college, thereby increasing the impact of the NARCH investment. In this way, the GLNARCH will both augment and leverage valuable resources for TCUs who do not have other NIH capacity programs available to them, such as the NIGMS IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE).