Undergrad application deadline is April 15

RAPID CITY, S.D. – What are YOU doing this summer?

That’s the big question being posed to undergraduate students by Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board’s (GPTCHB) Northern Plains Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH), which is gearing up to offer summer research scholarships to Native students across the country.

In addition to making scholarships available to undergraduates who may already be enrolled in summer research programs throughout the Great Plains region, Northern Plains NARCH will work with unenrolled scholarship recipients to link them to educational and health-oriented institutions in the region offering summer research programs.

University of Nebraska Medical Center, National Institutes of Health, North Dakota State University, University of South Dakota, Sanford Research, University of North Dakota and South Dakota State University are some of the regional institutions offering summer research programs. The programs provide valuable opportunities for students to enhance their academic and research skills, putting those who apply to graduate school at an advantage.

These summer research programs afford attendees the following benefits:

• The chance to study in their chosen fields;

• A stipend with most expenses paid;

• Housing and transportation;

• Mentorship from seasoned professionals;

• Workshops and training sessions; and

• Opportunities to participate in academic research conferences.

Northern Plains NARCH’s scholarships provide supplemental summer research program funding for students. 2

Visit GPTCHB’s Northern Plains NARCH webpage at http://www.gptchb.org/nptec/narch.php for links to area institutions offering summer research programs. Most of the programs are currently accepting applications.

To apply for 2014 summer research scholarships through Northern Plains NARCH or for more information on the scholarships, contact Brenda McGlynn, the center’s research and academic programs coordinator, at 605-721-1922, ext. 162, or Brenda.McGlynn@gptchb.org.

The deadline to apply for 2014 summer research scholarships through Northern Plains NARCH is April 15.

GPTCHB’s Northern Plains Native American Research Center for Health was established in 2005 through funding from the Indian Health Service and National Institutes of Health primarily to support ethical, culturally-appropriate health research in tribal communities. The program encourages intensive, academic-level biomedical, behavioral and health services research linked to the health priorities of Northern Plains tribal communities and to reducing health disparities among them.

Founded in 1986, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board serves as an advocate and liaison to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entities, including the Indian Health Service and state and local partners, on behalf of its 17 member tribes and one Indian Service Area in the Great Plains states of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. In addition, the nonprofit GPTCHB works with tribal communities through its multifaceted research, preventive, outreach, academic, recovery and epidemiologic programs to improve the health status of and eradicate health disparities among the region’s 170,000 tribal members