Methamphetamine and other drugs (MOD) in American Indian and Alaska Native communities (CTN-0033): Preliminary report on the process of MOD research partnerships between community and institutionally based researchers.

The Methamphetamine and Other Drugs (MOD) in American Indian and Alaska Native communities (AIAN) project grew from NIDA?s commitment to reducing health disparities with a specific emphasis on a better understanding of the epidemiology and treatment of drug abuse, and its health consequences in minority populations in general, and AIAN communities in particular. Because few data exist on methamphetamine and other drug use in AIAN communities, NIDA’s National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) funded several exploratory and developmental projects in order to develop collaborative research partnerships with AIAN communities. Each participating Node has specific processes in place for reporting and disseminating research findings that require Tribal approval from its respective research partners and findings from these projects will be presented in future publications and at professional meetings — in full partnership with our community research partners.

The purpose of this brief report is to describe the process followed by each of the Nodes as they have developed their research partnerships with AIAN communities; lessons learned and recommendations for others interested in ethical research with AIAN communities are also presented.

Related protocols: CTN-0033-Ot, CTN-0033-OT-1, CTN-0033-Ot-2, CTN-0033-Ot-3, CTN-0033-Ot-4, CTN-0033-Ot-5