President's Professors. . .

The Center for Alaska Native Health Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will host 10 prestigious biomedical research scientists as part of the CANHR's five year visiting scholars program.

Each scientist will rotate through the Center's President's Professor of Biomedical Research position for one to two months at a time. The position is funded by BP and ConocoPhillips, through the University Foundation, as part of a charter agreement with the state of Alaska. Unversity of Alaska President Mark Hamilton approved CANHR's program in 2006.

"What we're trying to do is simulate what an investigator would experience if he or she was, for example, at the University of Washington medical school," said Gerald Mohatt, CANHR director and UAF professor of psychology. The visiting investigators will collaborate with CANHR scientists on research design, data analyses, publications and grant applications, which will improve the Center's long-term sustainability.

"Because there is not a strong tradition of biomedical research at UAF this type of close interaction is essential to the success of the CANHR group, and we all expect to reap the benefits of having the President's Professors on campus," said Diane O'Brien, CANHR researcher and assistant professor of biology and wildlife in the Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife at UAF.

The visiting scientists are experts in genetics, epidemiology, research ethics, diabetes, nutrition, toxicology, cancer, psychology and anthropology - the same disciplines or complementary disciplines to those of CANHR researchers. "They will be working with our investigators using the same community-based, participatory research approach we use," Mohatt said.

"We'll spend the retreat this week planning who will come when, what exactly they'll be doing and how they can work with us on our research including study design and analysis," Mohatt said. It will be the first time many of the CANHR investigators and the visiting scholars will meet.

The scientists come from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health), University of Washington School of Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services), Nathan Klein Institute for Psychiatric Research, University of Kentucky College of Medicine and University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Psychology. A brief description of each scientist is below.

Additional information:

The Center for Alaska Native Health Research, part of the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, began with a 5-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources. The Center approaches the investigation of weight, nutrition and health in Alaska Natives from genetic, dietary and cultural-behavioral perspectives. The Center partners with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation.

Excerpt from Dec. 12, 2006 Institute of Arctic Biology press release.

Links to President's Professors