What began as an innovative, ambitious project more than five years ago, the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative has now grown into a strong, effective team of faculty, staff, students and community organizations\u2014all working together with a singular purpose\u2014to increase basic biomedical, clinical, and behavioral research at NAU to address health disparities among diverse populations of the southwestern United States.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of Regents\u2019 Professor Julie Baldwin<\/strong>, director of NAU\u2019s Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER), SHERC directly supported NAU faculty from all disciplines with funding for an astonishing 72 projects led by NAU researchers\u2014spanning social, behavioral, biomedical and clinical topics\u2014through five main research projects, 20 pilot projects, nine supplements, 16 Community-Campus Partnership Support (CCPS) projects, and 22 Recruitment Core research start-up projects.<\/p>\n SHERC has actively supported 97 NAU faculty members from 28 different departments in the last five years. More than half of SHERC faculty are early-stage investigators (ESIs) and 20 percent self-identify as underrepresented. \u201cWe believe that SHERC has made a world of difference for ESIs at NAU to really help them launch their research programs,\u201d Baldwin said. \u201cWith pilot project funding, our mentoring program, a breadth of methods workshops, training in grant and manuscript writing, and support from our community engagement core to work closely with community-based partners, our ESIs have been incredibly productive and successful over the last five years.\u201d<\/p>\n Morgan Vigil-Hayes<\/strong>, assistant professor, School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems, received SHERC pilot project funding in the center\u2019s second year. She recently received a $2.5 million NSF grant to continue work that started with her SHERC pilot project, \u201cARORA: Using Augmented Reality to Gamify a Universal Social Emotional Learning Intervention in Low-infrastructure Environments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe would not be at this exciting starting point if it had not been for SHERC,\u201d Vigil-Hayes said.<\/p>\n Vigil-Hayes said that SHERC brought resources together that allowed her to engage with Ann Collier<\/strong> (originally professor, Department of Psychological Sciences at NAU and now at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska) in a new vein of research and assisted her in meeting Darold Joseph<\/strong> (Iswunga), assistant professor, Department of Educational Specialties, and adding him to their team.<\/p>\n \u201c[SHERC] really has helped me develop as an early-career researcher starting down a track of highly interdisciplinary work, and I look forward to continuing to work where this project leads,\u201d Vigil-Hayes said. \u201cThank you so much to Dr. Julie Baldwin for developing and leading SHERC in such an encouraging way and to the whole SHERC team for their amazing support. It has made an incredible impact on me personally and on the ability of this project to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of ESIs affiliated with SHERC increased fivefold from 11 in 2017 to 55 in 2022; while the number of underrepresented faculty affiliated with SHERC increased tenfold from two in 2017 to 20 in 2022. A total of 16 SHERC-affiliated faculty were promoted throughout the university. Associate Professor of Anthropology Emery Eaves<\/strong>, who started as a postdoctoral scholar with CHER and who leads a SHERC COVID-19 supplement and pilot is one of those ESIs who works closely with both SHERC and CHER. She said that Baldwin has been a key mentor for her since she started at NAU.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter I successfully transitioned into a tenure track position in anthropology, Julie has continued to provide mentorship and support, and she has been instrumental to my success as a new researcher,\u201d Eaves said.<\/p>\n When the COVID-19 pandemic reached northern Arizona halfway through SHERC\u2019s five-year funding, NAU faculty immediately turned their collaborative research to serving local communities and obtained three COVID-related SHERC supplements to support the work.<\/p>\n\n One of the senior NAU faculty members who quickly began serving her community was Karen Jarratt-Snider<\/strong> (Choctaw), professor, Department of Applied Indigenous Studies. She was joined by colleagues Regents\u2019 Professor Julie Baldwin<\/strong> (Cherokee), director of CHER; Nicolette Teufel-Shone<\/strong>, CHER associate director and professor in CHER and the Department of Health Sciences; Manley Begay Jr.<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), professor, Department of Applied Indigenous Studies; Darold Joseph<\/strong> (Iswunga), assistant professor, Department of Educational Specialties; Amanda Hunter<\/strong> (Pascua Yaqui), postdoctoral fellow, CHER; Carol Goldtooth<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), community health educator; Alisse Ali-Joseph<\/strong> (Choctaw), assistant professor, Applied Indigenous Studies; Chesleigh Keene<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), assistant professor, Department of Educational Psychology; Juliette Roddy<\/strong> (Ojibwe), The NARBHA Institute James Wurgler MD Chair of Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice; Angelina Castagno<\/strong>, professor, Department of Educational Leadership; Marianne Neilsen<\/strong>, professor emeritus, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, April Petillo<\/strong>, assistant professor, Department of Sociology; Michael Petillo<\/strong>, CHER senior evaluation coordinator; and Esther Cadman<\/strong> (Din\u00e9) and Kelly McCue<\/strong>, CHER senior research coordinators.<\/p>\n The team also included several students: NAU doctoral candidates Melinda Smith<\/strong> (Bitterroot Salish) and Carly Camplain<\/strong> (Comanche), Andria Begay<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), doctoral candidate at the University of North Dakota, and Master of Public Health candidate, Amy Gelatt<\/strong>. Recent NAU graduates included: Jennifer Etcitty<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), MPH; and undergraduates Kat Evans<\/strong> (Din\u00e9), Bachelor of Arts, and Angelica Alvarado,<\/strong>\u00a0Bachelor of Science.<\/p>\n
\nMost importantly, 88 percent of SHERC-funded investigators reported that their research projects increased their understanding of trends and drivers of health disparities and assets in the Southwest\u2014a key step in addressing health equity and improving health disparities among diverse populations.<\/p>\nFostering ESI and underrepresented faculty career enhancement<\/h2>\n
Addressing health equity in communities during COVID<\/h2>\n