The NIH Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) program at Little Big Horn College (LBHC) builds on the campus commitment to the professional, vocational and personal development of individual students, and the advancement of Crow Indian students in both higher education and in the workplace. It also responds directly to the needs of the Crow Community, with the goal of reducing and eventually eliminating health disparities in critical health related areas. The LBHC-RIMI project, entitled """"""""Building Research Infrastructure in the Crow Community"""""""" (BRICC), will focus initially on integrating teaching, research, and outreach in environmental health and nutrition/diabetes, two health-related areas of critical importance to both the Crow Nation and other reservation communities. The project will establish four complementary and integrated core areas: 1) The Institutional Research Infrastructure and Capacity Building Core, 2) The Faculty Research and Research Training Core, 3) The Academic and Career Development in Research Core and 4) The Administrative Core.
The specific aims are: 1) Develop the LBHC research infrastructure, 2) Strengthen the scientific knowledge and skills or LBHC science faculty, 3) Provide academic and career development for LBHC students and 4) Maximize the impact of the RIMI-BRICC program by providing effective administration, evaluation, and dissemination of findings. The RIMI-BRICC research will be relevant to the public health issues of the Crow Nation and to other Native American communities with similar health disparities and environmental health impacts.
