E-News
Equity, Evidence & Engagement
By Nancy Lopez, Ph.D.
What is your street race? If you were walking down the street, what race do you think strangers would assume you are based on what you looked like? The beauty of this question is that it challenges the myth of race as biology, genetic ancestry, or culture and instead focuses on race as a social relationship of power that is not only about your personal identity. Our research shows that using street race measures in studies about inequality can make visible inequities that would otherwise remain hidden if we only use one measure of race (López 2014; López et al., 2018; Vargas et al., 2019). 

I wrote an essay entitled "The Census Bureau Keeps confusing race and ethnicity", there I talk about street race as the social meanings assigned to the conglomeration of skin color, hair texture, facial features and how street race may be more important than self-identity about cultural/ethnic origin, familial ancestry, or for understanding everyday racism when accessing healthcare, housing, and voting rights. 

Only when we critically assess our own street race can we begin the journey of shifting to understand others' experiences who may be assigned different street races even if they are members of our own families. Hopefully, through this critical reflection, we create a sense of empathy, unity, and solidarity. I hope that the street race measure becomes a gold standard that helps us map injustice and create a more just world anchored in human rights for ourselves, our children, families, and communities for generations to come.
Nourishing Generosity, Community Trust and Research Engagement
By The Investigator Development Core Team

The TREE Center Investigator Development Core (IDC) February roundtable focused on working with Tribal Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and Research Approval Processes. Our panelists were Esther Tenorio, Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, and Dr. Deborah Altschul. Dr. Brave Heart opened the session by discussing the importance of protecting people's identities involved in the research, including protecting confidentiality and secure data storage. Dr. Brave Heart shared that storing data is also protecting shared stories and building genuine relationships with tribal leaders and community members. Esther moved the conversation by sharing her expertise collaborating with university and tribal partners in a way that is respectful, engaging, and grounded in trust-building for the community. She shared that researchers should "embrace and nurture relationships that are going to bring forth the generosity of your work" understanding that the data collected belongs to the community from which it is collected. Dr. Altschul shared her experience of trusting the process and guidance of tribal leaders and community members when collecting data and building research practices that recognize community members' expertise. The stud includes the Katishtya Intergenerational Culture Knowledge Seminars (KICKS) model for intergenerational knowledge sharing and how it can be used when working with tribal families.

In conclusion, and how they work is guided by their input. Our panelists had a mutual understanding of community trust when working with tribal communities. An opportunity discussed during the roundtable was changing IRB protocol to be more aligned with current community needs and timelines.
Policy Solutions and Latino Mental Health Needs
On January 27th Professor Sanchez spoke on a national webinar focused on policy solutions to address the many challenges facing Latino families due to COVID-19. To address the severe mental health needs of the Latino community Sanchez suggested that there should be permanent increases in funding to mental health providers that accept Medicaid and that operate in under-served communities and provide culturally appropriate services.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The TREE Center Familia congratulates Dr. Sanchez-Youngman, Ph.D. on her new position as Assistant professor at the College of Population Health
Dr. Sanchez-Youngman is a community based participatory researcher with expertise in Latino mental health disparities intervention research and health equity policy. She has over 20 years of experience developing community health interventions aimed at reducing social and health disparities among economically marginalized groups and racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Dr. Sanchez-Youngman seeks to bridge the gap between social science theories and methods with multi-level health intervention research. 

In her current grant work funded by the TREE Center, Dr. Sanchez-Youngman extends dominant behavioral-clinical interventions to examine how more nuanced social-cultural risks such as public stigma and marginalization impact suicide among rural, Latino youth. She employs innovative digital story intervention(s) with rural Latino youth to promote collective empowerment resiliency related to suicidality. Her work develops intergenerational strategies that tests the impact of youth-led policy input to reduce suicide disparities on promoting new ideas for suicide prevention among grassroots youth, adult stakeholders, and policy makers.

Mentoring students of color is a key priority of Dr. Sanchez-Youngman’s work. As a native-born New Mexican from a rural-agrarian Latino community, she has over 15 years of experience mentoring and teaching students of color both inside and outside of the academy. As the Fellowship Director for the Center on Social Policy, she manages a doctoral fellowship program that seeks to increase the participation of the nation’s under-represented racial and ethnic groups in health and social disparities research. As Assistant Faculty in the College of Population Health, Dr. Sanchez-Youngman seeks to build her own leadership efforts to support pipeline opportunities in research for underrepresented minority groups.
2021 NHSN CONFERENCE

Looking Back to Look Ahead: Rediscovering and Expanding the Foundations of Substance Use Research with Diverse Populations as we Enter a Post-Pandemic World
The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered the ways in which we perceive and understand salient life experiences, including substance use and misuse. The pandemic has also underscored longstanding social, structural, and health inequities that have plagued racial/ethnic minorities for centuries. As we continue to face extraordinary challenges posed by this pandemic, we also reflect on the unique opportunities we have to expand the future of our basic and applied research focused on preventing and treating substance abuse. Such knowledge is critical to better understand the short- and long-term implications of pandemics on substance use to inform future intervention and prevention strategies. In this conference, we will rediscover the historical foundations of our field, highlight the remarkable progress we have achieved, and reflect on the critical challenges that must inform our work in the future. In essence, a cross-theme of this conference will be the critical need to always look back, prior to looking ahead.
EVENTS & RESOURCES
New Mexico Public Health Association 2021 Annual Conference

Public Health Reimagined: Transforming our Landscape in a COVID-19 World

April 8-9, 2021 (Virtual)
Pre-Conference Workshops on April 7, 2021
Register opens at nmpha.org on Feb.1 2021
CMAS is accepting applications for the Visiting Scholar Program

Extended deadline: February 15, 2021

Visiting Scholars join the Center for Mexican American Studies as postdoctoral fellows and actively participate in the Center’s research activities and seminars.

Preference will be given to postdoctoral scholars whose research interests coincide with the Center for Mexican American Studies’ current focus on applied quantitative methods and whose area of research focuses on Mexican American and/or Latinx studies. The duration of the Visiting Scholar program is one academic year.
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) will host the Health Disparities Research Institute (HDRI) virtually August 9-13, 2021. 

  • Open Application Cycle: Monday, February 1, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ET to Monday, March 8, 2021, 5:00 p.m. ET.

The HDRI aims to support the research career development of promising early-career minority health and health disparities research scientists, and to stimulate research in disciplines supported by health disparities science.

The program will feature:
  • Lectures on minority health and health disparities research 
  • Mock grant review 
  • Seminars and small group discussions 

Please note that applications will only be accepted from extramural scientists who meet NIH’s Early Stage Investigator (ESI) eligibility criteria. Also, NIH and HHS staff, including persons in fellowships/training at NIH or an HHS agency, are not eligible to apply.

All applications must be submitted via the HDRI online application system by the due date; emailed applications will not be accepted. Applicants are encouraged to apply before the deadline since late submissions will not be accepted.

For questions or more information, email HDRI@nih.gov
Center for Native Environmental Health Equity Research 2021 Request for Pilot Project Applications
The Center for Native Environmental Health Equity Research is now accepting pilot project applications from early stage investigators from NIH-defined Health Disparity populations that address scientific, policy and/or community needs and advance Native American environmental health equity. Priority given to applications that address the connections between exposure disparities, health disparities, and loss of resources necessary for the sustainability of cultural traditions and practices.

Deadline: 5 PM, February 15, 2021; April 15, 2021 (Off-cycle applications may be considered, depending on available funds-contact dmackenzie@salud.unm.edu.

Instructions for Applicants:
Required components must be received as a single submission file by Debra MacKenzie, (dmackenzie@salud.unm.edu, on or before 5:00 PM, February 15, 2021.
Live Online Professional NIH Grant Development Workshop
Master the techniques of writing superior winning NIH proposals


February 18-19, 2021
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time
Sponsored by the Grant Training Center

For the safety and well-being of all our workshop participants, rather than returning to the University of New Mexico, as planned, we will be holding this Professional NIH Grant Development workshop live online. It will include: the same length of instruction, interactive discussions, and one-on-ones with the instructor.

Participants will learn how to:

  1. Make the match with the appropriate NIH Institute, program and grant mechanism for their idea(s)
  2. Identify and avoid common pitfalls of a grant
  3. Write exceptional Specific Aims pages
  4. Effectively address each piece of the application
  5. Understand the review process and how to successfully write for reviewers
  6. Learn what actually happens in the study section
  7. Decipher pink sheets: The inevitable resubmission
  8. Build an airtight case for funding

Our ultimate goal is for you to walk away with a product specific to your interests, which includes the grant design, abstract and budget.


Questions? Call us at (866) 704-7268
Workshop Fee: $595.00 (includes comprehensive resources, a workbook, and certificate of completion)
Rebate of $45.00 per person is given for two or more registrants from the same organization.

Can't make it?
This webinar will also take place
NMDOH COVID-19 Vaccine Registration
For more information and to register for your initial COVID-19 Vaccine and Booster, click here.
State of New Mexico Emergency Support Function 6 - Community Fund: Emergency Food Distribution

Given the worsening COVID situation in the state and especially for some of our Tribal and other underserved communities, we are providing some important information about the State’s Emergency Support Function 6 – the state government unit responsible for emergency food distribution.
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