This proposal is for a planning grant to assemble a Collaborative Research Team (CRT) to establish the goals, objectives and methodology for a Comprehensive Research Plan (CRP) to study diabetes among Northern Plains Indians in the Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service (AAIHS) during a planning phase for a period of 1 year. The CRT will consist of researchers, health care providers, tribal representatives, and other agencies and organizations with a demonstrated interest in diabetes among American Indians. The CRT will meet on a quarterly basis during the planning year to consider various research questions and its composition will insure that an appropriate cultural perspective is maintained. A major focus of the CRP will be a diabetes intervention/prevention trial involving a study and control reservation. Various ancillary studies based on the interests and expertise of the specific CRT members and other potential collaborators to be conducted in these same or other Northern Plains tribes will also be included in the CRP. Although the tribes included in the NIH sponsored Strong Heart Study (SHS) will likely be involved in these research efforts to prevent obesity and diabetes other interested Norther Plains tribes may also participate. Currently existing raw data concerning the incidence and prevalence of diabetes and its complications, associated risk factors, and other related issues among Norther Plains Indians will be compiled, analyzed, and made available to the CRT to assist it in determining the types of studies to be conducted and the most appropriate sites and tribes. The CRP will contain a mechanism for the CRT members and other collaborators to submit future proposals for research which may be incorporated into the CRP even after its implementation.
