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Diné College School of STEM Professor Awarded NIH-NIGMS-SEPA Award to run “CONVOY: a cultural approach of Navajo youth to biomedical sciences” GDSCN Member Shazia Tabassum Hakim, Ph.D., Diné College received a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to identify complementary strategies that link traditional Navajo epistemologies with modern scientific practices to motivate Diné College, Navajo Nation’s high school and Junior high school students to study and pursue careers in Biomedical Sciences and related fields. Read more about the program here: https://www.dinecollege.edu/dine-college-school-of-stem-professor-awarded-nih-nigms-sepa-award-to-run-convoy-a-cultural-approach-of-navajo-youth-to-biomedical-sciences/.
Project Title: CONVOY: A Cultural approach of Navajo Youth to Bio- medical Sciences. Need Assessment: STEM Learning Ecosystems are localized multi-stakeholder collaborative networks (MSCNs) that are “dynamic collaborations among schools, out-of-school time programs, STEM expert institutions (eg., museums, science centers, and institutions of higher education), the private sector, community-based organizations, youth and families”, and has been identified as one of the key sources to harvest human capital and contribute to novel interventions through the development of advanced knowledge. We will create a bridge between traditional indigenous knowledge and modern biomedical science via “CONVOY”. Peer Groups: Numerous peer groups focus on the development of K-12 and undergraduate research and education programs for underserved minority communities, but there are very few who are focusing on healthcare and biomedical sciences. This proposed activity will provide the students with health disparity-related research experiences, hands-on laboratory training, and other educational and communication opportunities via Science Café and Health Fairs to prepare them for future leadership and careers in healthcare, biopharma, and other associated professions. Proposal: “CONVOY” project will bring together students from Junior high schools, high schools (mentees) and Diné College (mentor avatars) in order to spawn their enduring curiosity in biomedical and health sciences — especially among Navajo (Diné) youth and students from other underserved communities— while adapting the concept of “near-peer” network to bring forward the local health issues to the open forums. Specific Aims: CONVOY, identifies causal links between Indigenous traditional knowledge and modern science to achieve four specific aims i.e., 1) Motivate Navajo high school and junior high school students to study and pursue careers in Biomedical Sciences and related fields; 2) Nurture holistic practices that bridge the gap between Navajo traditional practices and western medicine to develop a marketable land based solution, while focusing on problems faced by local communities; 3) Prepare students to enroll in institutions of higher learning and provide opportunities to earn college credit in high school through Dine College’s Dual Enrollment Program for biomedical sciences, and 4) Develop curriculum for a 10-week summer program to support activities by “CONVOY”. Expected Outcome: the benefits of the “Convoy” will include but are not limited to: i) Development of a need appropriate support system (near-peer-mentorship) that will serve as a main technical support for training and innovative research to help provide better healthcare services, ii) Greater understanding of the local epidemiology of infections, diseases and health disparities, iii) Increase local workforce development in several critical areas that have implications broader than current COVID-19 pandemic or other infections and diseases.
CONVOY
A cultural approach for providing higher education and career pathways to Navajo youth interested in biomedical or healthcare-related professions.
In 2016, Native American people in science and engineering formed only 0.3% of the graduate student population, specifically constituting 0.15% in engineering and 0.38% in the sciences (Bright and Jones, 2020). National Science Foundation (NSF) data from 2018 show that the percentages of Native American people earning master’s degrees and PhDs in science and engineering are 0.4 and 0.3, respectively (NCES, 2018). According to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in 2021 there were only 2,583 active physicians who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, which is 0.3% of total active physicians in the US. Similar numbers are also reflected in other healthcare and medical fields. The field of science has historically marginalized indigenous knowledge, creating barriers for Native American students pursuing careers in STEM. In particular, the field has a history of invalidating indigenous knowledge, and can perpetuate inequities in terms of who can access science (by virtue of their demographic background) and what constitutes science knowledge. Mindful pedagogical training through “culturally responsive science teaching” could help address inequities based on (and perpetuated by) demographic and cultural differences.
Diné College, situated in the Navajo Nation, is committed to supporting its predominantly Navajo student population in pursuing various science programs. However, the college acknowledges the challenges faced by Native American students in accessing career pathways in science. An example of how Diné College is proactively helping to address this issue is the initiation of CONVOY, a 5 year education and professional development program with youth from local junior and high schools across the Navajo nation. CONVOY, funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and National Institute of General Medical Science’s (NIGMS) Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program, aims to engage junior and high school students from local communities across the Navajo Nation, to prepare them for college and careers in biomedical sciences while staying connected with their Indigenous culture, knowledge, and foundation. This project is headed by Dr. Shazia Tabassum Hakim, professor of Biomedical Sciences and Microbiology at Diné College’s Tuba City, Arizona center. Beginning in the summer of 2024, a cohort of 20 students from local junior and high schools will join 4 student mentors from Diné College in a 10-week summer internship program where students will gain practical experience in laboratory and field activities related to microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, and community health. This course content will align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) ‘Structure and Function’ performance expectation. This summer internship will be followed by another 10 weeks commitment in the fall where students will work on individual projects and apply what they’ve learned by participating in the organization and implementation of local community Science Cafés and Health Fairs. Over the full 5 years of the grant a total of 100 school students (participants/mentees) and 20 college students (mentor avatars) are expected to benefit from the CONVOY program. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to earn college credit through dual enrollment at Diné College, further nurturing their interest in scientific pursuits. The CONVOY framework incorporates a near-peer mentoring model, pairing junior high school and high school students with undergraduate mentors from Diné College. This mentorship aims to foster academic excellence and career development, encouraging participants to present their research projects at state and national professional forums, thereby laying the groundwork for future leadership in biomedical and health sciences initiatives. CONVOY goals will be related to the Dine Educational Philosophy, Sa’ah Naaghei Bek’eh Hozhoon, the Diné traditional living system, that places Dine’ life in harmony with the natural world and the universe. Nitsahakees(Thinking), Nahat’a (Planning), Iina (Living), and Siih Hasin (Assuring) are processes found in all aspects of nature. This unique educational philosophy and mission is grounded in Navajo cultural traditions. With the hope and expectation that participation in CONVOY will serve as a catalyst for participants to in some way support the health needs of their local communities, an informed understanding of relevant cultural knowledge and philosophy will surely aid them in being more effective in their future career and academic goals.
A fully accredited tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) in the United States, with one formal candidate for accreditation. Three are in Associate Status. According to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, these TCUs offer 358 total programs, including 181 associate degree programs, 40 bachelor’s degree programs, and 5 master’s degree programs, as well as apprenticeships, diplomas, and certificates. Despite this diversity, however, all TCUs are communally lacking allied healthcare and medicine-related programs. Overall, only 17 TCUs offer programs related to allied healthcare or other professions of medical importance. These programs include 23 associate, 27 certificate, 1 diploma, and 1 bachelor’s level program. The Cherokee nation’s college of medicine in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, is a new addition to the list.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of more than 30,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences. ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
Diné College microbiology professor Shazia Hakim is looking into soils across the Navajo Reservation that could aid in fighting bacteria. Her findings were recently published in the International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology. The college’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is conducting a study to determine if soil from certain parts of the reservation hold antibiotic producer strains of bacteria or fungi that can be a promising source for the future. Hakim said the soil samples used in this study were collected from various locations on the reservation, including Tuba City, Moenave, Rare Metals, and Moencopi Wash, from March to July 2019. “Geographic location, weather, and especially temperature and scarcity of water and other nutrition in the soil plays an important role in survival capabilities of environmental microorganisms,” Hakim said. “We are hoping to find some good antibiotic producer strains of bacteria from the soil of deserted dry lands.” According to the World Health Organization, the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria has developed into one of the biggest global threats and, if no significant action is taken by the year 2050, superbugs will kill more people than cancer and diabetes combined.
A $500,000 grant from the USDA will help UArizona and Diné College prepare Navajo Nation college students for careers in STEM. The University of Arizona and Diné College have been awarded a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collaboratively train the next generation of Navajo water scientists. The grant comes from the USDA National Institute of Food & Agriculture through the Tribal College Research Grant Program and will provide Navajo youth technical and hands-on experience in microbiology, molecular biology, chemical and microbial water analysis, and pressure-driven membrane processes. Through the collaborative research program, students at Diné College – a public tribal college in northern Arizona – will also learn about traditional and advanced water and wastewater treatment procedures. "Water scarcity is increasing day by day, and we need our own Navajo water scientists who understand the traditional values associated with water and its importance. For Navajos, water is life. Water is used for a number of ceremonial purposes," said Shazia Tabassum Hakim, principal investigator on the grant and a professor of microbiology and biomedical sciences in the Diné College School of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math. "We want our students to see all aspects of water treatment and management and use them according to their own culture, own traditions and own needs.” "The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American tribe, with more than 20,000 households with no access to public infrastructure in terms of running water and electricity," said Vasiliki Karanikola, UArizona's principal investigator on the project and an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering. "Providing STEM tools and opportunities to Native American college students to understand and solve emerging water challenges is very important, as it creates a new generation of scientists and engineers ready to address water challenges within their own communities."
Each year, six Diné College juniors will be trained through a 10-week internship, and two seniors will be given the opportunity to work alongside Hakim as research assistants. The first cohort will begin virtually this fall, with plans to provide in-person opportunities at both land-grant institutions in the program’s second and third year. The goal of the internship program is to provide the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary to prepare student interns and research assistants for STEM career paths. The skills provided will extend beyond those acquired directly through classroom experiences, Hakim said. Through the three-year program, a multidisciplinary research team of experts from both land-grant institutions will focus on issues of water sustainability, particularly potential reuse applications for polished effluent, which is wastewater that's gone through its final treatment stage, said Benita Litson, Diné College land-grant director and co-investigator on the project. The research team will identify and address the possible presence of microbial and chemical contaminants in treated wastewater, the use of pressure-driven membrane filtration systems to polish effluent before reuse, and potential technical impediments to agricultural use of polished effluent. "Arizona is in a long-term drought, and water resources will continue to decline. It is imperative that innovative ways of water recycling and conservation be explored," said Karletta Chief, co-principal investigator on the grant and a professor of environmental science in the UArizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As a means of preserving scarce freshwater resources, treated wastewater can be used to create green spaces, restore arid ecological systems, suppress wildfires and support agriculture. "Our treated wastewater effluent is usually discarded at open streams and rivers or reloaded into aquifers. Water reuse takes that wastewater effluent and further treats it with advanced water treatment processes and produces pristine water that can be used for many applications," Karanikola said. "Whether we reuse the water directly or use it for agricultural purposes, it will be a big win in supporting the survival of the Southwest during severe droughts." "In Navajo culture, water has integral value in day-to-day life. Hence, this study will be conducted as a baseline research project with a focus on training our students to help support the best interests of the Navajo Nation," Hakim said. “At the same time, our results will be available to communities outside the reservation for guidance and utilization.” The project team will collect wastewater samples from research sites in Tuba City and Chinle, located in the Western and Central Agencies of the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. Research results will inform potential policy initiatives to be developed in collaboration with tribal stakeholders, including the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, Navajo Nation Water Resource Department and the Navajo Nation Department of Health. "The inception and engagement of our Diné College students will lead to necessary data that will serve as a basis for further program development," said Daniel Tso, chairman of the Health, Education and Human Services Committee of the Navajo Nation Council. "The students will gain knowledge that can help guide their coursework, their degree attainment and their career choices. We welcome this type of collaboration that will empower the younger generation." The multidisciplinary research team includes researchers from both land-grant institutions. Hakim and Litson will lead efforts at Diné College. UArizona collaborators will include Karanikola and Chief, as well as Robert Arnold, a professor emeritus of chemical and environmental engineering, and Charles Gerba, a professor of environmental science.
Pakistani microbiologist Shazia Tabassum Hakim has been researching some complex matters concerning hepatitis and HIV vaccines, and she found Claflin's biotechnology department a "friendly, cooperative" place in which to finish her work. After screening about 3,000 Pakistani women for hepatitis B and C, Hakim had "genotyped" (or derived the genetic makeup of) the positive blood samples. She then chose six vaccines being sold in Pakistan to determine whether their genotype was the same as that which they had isolated from the volunteers with B or C. Both forms of hepatitis are sexually transmitted or spread by sharing needles and can lead to chronic liver disease, liver scarring and liver cancer. Dr. Omar Bagasra, Claflin biology professor and director of the biotechnology department, said various kinds of inexpensive "makeshift vaccines," one of which is made in China, are being sold in Pakistan and other developing nations without any real study of their effectiveness. In the United States, he said, hepatitis B vaccines are made in bacteria, which can be engineered from DNA to make those proteins which stimulate the immune system against hepatitis B. In nations like Pakistan and India, however, vaccines are being sold that are not made in bacteria, he said, and some are made in human cell lines, which sometimes even carry cancer-causing genes, he explained.
A new discovery is that human cells have small sequences of RNA called micro-RNA, which are designed to perform against HIV and HIV-like viruses, Bagasra said, adding "We believe chimpanzees have the correct sequence of micro-RNA which allow them to block HIV. Shazia asked if she could figure out what kind of micro-RNA man has and how they bind with HIV to see if we can use the same micro-RNA to protect man." "For the first time, because of her help, we were able to figure out exactly what sequence we should use to block HIV. We're actually pulling a paper together already, Bagasra said. "We have some of the students now developing a special viral, nonpathogenic agent which can be put into the white blood cells of humans to block HIV infection. It will be 10 years before it goes to man and takes a long time to actually get approval." While HIV/AIDS is not a major problem in Pakistan and more predominant among drug addicts, "it is always better to prepare" with the development of a potential vaccine to stop the spread of HIV, Hakim said. "For the first time, because of her help, we were able to figure out exactly what sequence we should use to block HIV. We're actually pulling a paper together already, Bagasra said. "We have some of the students now developing a special viral, nonpathogenic agent which can be put into the white blood cells of humans to block HIV infection. It will be 10 years before it goes to man and takes a long time to actually get approval." While HIV/AIDS is not a major problem in Pakistan and more predominant among drug addicts, "it is always better to prepare" with the development of a potential vaccine to stop the spread of HIV, Hakim said.
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