Research Review

Approval of new research studies and dissemination of findings by Southcentral Foundation requires that researchers meet certain standards established by the SCF Board of Directors and informed by community-based participatory research. SCF has instituted these standards to ensure that research priorities are set by Alaska Native peoples in a manner that is culturally based and respectful due to the history of research with Alaska Native and American Indian people. It means the Alaska Native Community is in charge of research that involves the customer-owner population. SCF Research facilitates the Research Review process, which SCF put in place to review all research requests.

In addition to SCF’s Research Review process, research occurring on the Alaska Native Health Campus may need approval by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the Alaska Area Institutional Review Board.

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) Tribal Review

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium reviews health related abstracts, manuscripts and proposals. Submissions are reviewed by Abstracts, Manuscript and Proposal Review Committee (AMP-RC), Health Research Review Committee (HRRC), and the Board of Directors. Questions regarding ANTHC review can be mailed electronically to rampreview@anthc.org.

Alaska Ar­­­ea Institutional Review Board

The Alaska Area Institutional Review Board (AAIRB) is sponsored by the Indian Health Service Director’s Office who serves the tribal health organizations and tribes of Alaska. The role of the AAIRB is to help ensure that all human participant research observes three principles from the Belmont Report:

1.       Respect for persons
2.       Beneficence
3.       Justice

In addition to the Belmont principles, the Alaska Area IRB follows federal regulations 45 CFR 46 and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations when reviewing research with Alaska Native people in the Alaska Tribal Health System.

For more information, please email: akaalaskaareaIRB@anthc.org. To submit a project to the Alaska Area IRB please proceed to www.irbnet.org.

Contact Us

Research and Data Services
Nuka Learning and Wellness Center
4085 Tudor Centre Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508

Phone
(907) 729-8623

Email
SCFResearchReview@scf.cc

The SCF Research Review involves the following groups:

  • SCF Research Department
  • SCF Executive Committee

History of Research with Alaska Native and American Indian People

The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (P.L. 93-638) codified self-determination of Alaska Native and American Indian peoples by giving Tribes and Tribal organizations the authority to contract directly with the federal government for health and education grants and thereby exercise greater control over their own welfare (Jones, 2006; Rhoades & Rhoades, 2014; Sherry, 2004). In addition to exercising the right to own and manage federally funded health services and programs under this process of self-governance (Barnard, 2015; Charlesworth, Jamieson, Davey, & Butler, 2015; Chino & Dubruyn, 2006; Gottlieb, 2013; Rajaram et al., 2014), many Tribes and Tribal organizations have established policies governing research with Alaska Native and American Indian community members (Chino & DeBruyn, 2006; Ferreira & Gendron, 2011; Jetter, Yarborough, Cassady, & Styne, 2015; Kelley, Belcourt-Dittloff, Belcourt C., & Belcourt G., 2013).

Research studies have concluded that Alaska Native and American Indian people distrust research (Buchwald et al., 2006; Christopher, 2005; Manson, Garroutte, Goins, & Henderson, 2004). Contributions to this distrust are multi-faceted and are intertwined with distrust of federal and other non-Native organizations, given their history of forced assimilation, discrimination, and other mistreatment. Alaska Native and American Indian people and communities have experienced harmful research, view most research as benefiting researchers but not Alaska Native and American Indian individuals or communities, and find sharing research results with respondents and communities lacking or unsatisfactory (Harding et al., 2012; Hiratsuka, Brown, Hoeft, & Dillard, 2012; Williams et al., 2010). Two research studies in Alaska are cited as examples of research that harmed the Alaska Native Community and breached the trust between researchers and community members: the Alaskan I131 experiment and the Barrow Alcohol Study, both described in Dillard et al (2018).

SCF Research Review approval is a multi-step process that starts at the conception of the research project and continues through dissemination of project findings. Each step in the review process can take two to four months. These steps are listed in the SCF Research Review Tracker. Keep in mind these steps are sequential, rather than concurrent. In other words, approval at Step 1: Concept Proposal is required prior to initiating Step 2: Alaska Area Indian Review Board.

At each step, you will receive an update via letter or email, notifying you of the project’s approval status and indicating the next step.

Each group in SCF Research Review ensures research meets the following criteria:

  • Project is research, as defined in the Definition of Research Questions.
  • The Alaska Native and American Indian Community is recognized as a unit of identity.
  • Research will build on the strengths and resources within the community.
  • Collaborative partnerships are facilitated in all phases of the research.
  • Knowledge and action are integrated for benefit, for science, and for Alaska Native people.
  • Research is a co-learning and empowering process that attends to social inequalities.
  • Research involves a cyclical, iterative process.
  • Research addresses health from positive and ecological perspectives.
  • Findings and knowledge gained are disseminated to all partners.

Unsure if your project is research?

  • Definition of Research
    “A systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” – Department of Health and Human Services
    “Any experiment that involves a test article and one or more human subjects.” – Food and Drug Administration
  • Consider the Office for Human Research Protections guidance (http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp)
  • Review the Definition of Research Questions.
  • Internal SCF investigators should submit the Definition of Research Questions and the Concept Proposal Summary Form to SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com.
  • External Investigators should submit an Application for Research Determination to the AAIRB for assistance with a determination.

AAIRB, ANTHC, and SCF Research Review submission calendar deadlines.

To submit for SCF Research Review please email SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com.

Step 1. Concept Proposal Approval – Submit the following documents to SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com:

Step 2. AAIRB Approval – Once your concept proposal is approved by SCF you will need to obtain approval from the Indian Health Service AAIRB. Include a copy of your concept proposal approval letter from SCF when submitting your application.

For more information on the AAIRB submission process, please contact the AAIRB office at:
Phone:  (907) 729-3924
E-mail: aka-alaskaareaIRB@anthc.org

Step 3. Privacy Consultation – If AAIRB requires you to complete a privacy consult, please contact SCF at (907) 729-4200.

Step 4. Proposal Approval – Once you have completed the previous steps, submit the following documents to SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com:

Step 5. SCF Research Agreement

Step 6. Conduct Research – Once all previous steps have been successfully completed, you may begin your research.

Step 7. Provide Annual Study Update  – Each year your project is open we ask that you please complete an annual update. Please submit the AAIRB Status Report and Renewal Application form to SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com.

Step 8. Obtain approval for dissemination of findings – At the end of your project before any results are shared, please submit the following documents to SCFResearchReview@southcentralfoundation.com:

SCF promotes objectivity in research by establishing standards that provide a reasonable expectation that the design, conduct, and reporting of research performed under a federally sponsored grant or cooperative agreement will be free from bias resulting from investigator Financial Conflict of Interest. SCF’s Research Financial Conflict of Interest Procedure provides SCF’s written, enforced policy on conflict of interest and informs each Investigator of the Investigator’s reporting requirements.