MT INBRE IV has two overarching goals: 1) maintain and further develop the Montana research network and student pipeline, and 2) utilize this network to address the serious health disparities Montana's rural and Native communities face. MT INBRE IV will support and mentor investigators from research universities, primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and tribal colleges (TCs) through leading edge biomedical science and best practices in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to address health disparities in Montana's rural and tribal communities. We believe that Montana communities can drive research and contribute to finding solutions to mitigate the health disparities they experience. Because of the severity and pervasiveness of health disparities in our state, this emphasis will continue in MT INBRE IV, but within that focus, we will add new research areas that have emerged from MT INBRE III, including resiliency, mental health and suicide prevention, nutrition, food security/sovereignty, and metabolic diseases. By adding food security/sovereignty and nutrition to our research focus, MT INBRE IV will help to develop a holistic health approach that goes beyond treatments and drugs that alleviate symptoms. Rather, our targets will be the mechanisms of resiliency, improved mental health, and suicide prevention. These efforts will be accomplished by instituting innovative partnerships with programs and institutions in Montana and the Western IDeA Regional Network to maximize resources, collaborations, and opportunities available to Montana's researchers and students. MT INBRE IV will realize goals and research targets through four specific aims.
Aim 1 : Strengthen Montana's biomedical and bioinformatics infrastructure through continued development of shared facilities, research collaborations, focused working groups, and training opportunities.
Aim 2 : Build and increase the state's research base and capacity by providing support to faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students at participating institutions.
Aim 3 : Provide research opportunities for students from primarily undergraduate institutions, community colleges, and minority institutions and serve as a pipeline for these students to continue in health research careers within IDeA states.
Aim 4 : Share established programs and infrastructure through a tristate Regional Alliance of INBRE Networks (RAIN) with Idaho, Montana and New Mexico to reduce redundancy, increase interdisciplinary research collaborations among faculty, and broaden research and education opportunities for students.
Rural communities in Montana, particularly Native American communities, experience severe health disparities. MT INBRE IV builds the capacity of the statewide research network to address these disparities through collaborations with the state's rural and tribal populations.
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