With this new, $3 million grant, the UW Seven Directions team will serve as one of four core technical assistance and training hubs supporting the documentation and monitoring of tribal research grants focused on substance use, mental health, and pain management. Along with building initial relationships with tribal and other Native American Serving Organizations research teams to develop trust, identify research capacity needs, and readiness to engage in research, the Seven Directions GATHER team will provide and support connections to subject matter experts to ensure research approaches include best and promising practices.

The Seven Directions technical assistance work recognizes the importance of authentic relationship building and connection. Led by PIs Myra Parker, PhD, MPH, JD and Maya Magarati, PhD, GATHER teams will coordinate closely, using the first two years of the project to develop a plan for establishing and confirming their respective roles in the training curricula, technical assistance plan, as well as the network dissemination and communication plan for the purpose of supporting and growing the field of research by and for tribal and urban Indian communities to develop culturally grounded and informed solutions for the reduction of substance use disorder and to ensure health equity within communities that face some of the most urgent public health needs in the U.S. A core goal of this effort, which the UW team is uniquely poised to achieve, is including Indigenous knowledge in tribal and NASO research approaches.