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TAHLEQUAH, OK - A group made up of the Five Civilized Tribes and the University of Oklahoma has received a $433,000 grant to study health issues facing the Native American population.

The grant will fund three research projects that specifically target health issues facing Indians in Oklahoma. The projects include reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes among Oklahoma Native American children, promoting the use of substance abuse services by parents of neglected children, and examining how Native American's decide about participating in clinical research.

"The Cherokee Nation will be participating in the research project involving Type 2 diabetes in Native American children", said Dr. Gloria Teague, director of medical services for Cherokee Nation. "We hope to gain knowledge that will prevent or delay onset of this disease in our children. We are reaching a crisis in this area and unless we can do something to prevent this disease, I am afraid of what the future health of our people will be."

The grant comes from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service and will be administered by Oklahoma Native American Research Center for Health (ONARCH), a collaborative effort with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole nations.

The primary goals of ONARCH are to encourage research aimed at reducing health differences, improve the independent research capacity of the tribes and increase research efforts between OU and the Five Civilized Tribes.

"The university is excited about taking past collaborations to a new level of success to increase research capacities among the tribes themselves", said Dr. John Mulvihill, a professor of genetics at OU.

"This is a fabulous opportunity for the Cherokee Nation and the other Five Civilized Tribes", Teague said. "It will not only allow us the opportunity to collaborate with national researchers, but it will also help build capacity within the tribe to be able to develop and be funded for independent research projects. By developing this ability internally, we will have full control over and guide any research projects. The more knowledgeable that we become, the better we are able to prevent any inappropriate research from occurring on our population. I hope that this is only the beginning of a process that will lead to new information that will ultimately improve the health of all Cherokees and other Native Americans."

Past ONARCH efforts include the OU Native American Prevention Research Center, which enforces health promotion and disease prevention programs in Native American communities throughout the country; the Center for American Indian Health Research, which combines population-based research with screening, prevention and treatment for diseases in Native Americans; and the Native American Center of Excellence Consortium, which emphasizes recruitment of Native Americans into health care professions.