New Indigenous health dashboard offers robust database for scholars
The Indigenous Health Research Dashboard offers visually dynamic presentations of hundreds of categorized research articles focused on Indigenous health.
By Nicole Greason and Kimberly Linn
A team at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and American Indian Studies program has created a new tool to aid researchers and scholars in analyzing connections between major illnesses and determinants of health in the Indigenous population.
The Indigenous Health Research Dashboard is an online database of peer-reviewed, published research studies focusing on conditions and diseases impacting Indigenous health from 2020 to the present. Publications before 2020 will become part of the dashboard starting next semester.
Nate Wade, a research assistant professor in the College of Health Solutions and associate vice president and chief of staff in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer, and Angela Gonzales, an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe, director and professor of American Indian Studies, and health solutions ambassador in the College of Health Solutions, headed the project.
"Indigenous health research is a specialized field, and those of us working in this area are frequently approached for recommendations — whether it's from students, postdocs or fellow faculty seeking readings or connections to others conducting research in this field," Gonzales said.
According to Wade, a grant from Genentech Health Equity and Diversity in STEM Innovation Fund supports the dashboard’s development and maintenance from January 2023 through October 2025.
Wade said they have worked with the ASU Decision Theater to develop several research repositories, including testing and workplace research during COVID-19 and a new initiative on global nutrition.
The Indigenous Health Research Dashboard is one of the recent contributions. Through additional support from ASU Knowledge Enterprise, a website was built to house the dashboard and facilitate access to the database.
Through the "Honors 498: Pro-Seminar" course during the 2024 spring and fall semesters, students from Barrett, The Honors College at ASU helped compile and classify many of the articles available in the Indigenous Health Dashboard. Students classified each article based on illnesses, health determinants, geographic locations and tribal information in a spreadsheet. Nearly 800 articles have been reviewed and classified by HON 498 students.
“This project allows students to gain real-world experience while exploring research topics that they may not have been familiar with before,” Wade said. “By reading numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, students gain knowledge in a particular field, and ultimately see their work showcased on a publicly available website that has the potential to benefit researchers and community members.”
Alexandra Theodorou, a senior biochemistry major at Barrett, The Honors College, said she gained valuable experience helping to create the repository database. She intends to include her experience working on the Indigenous Health Research Dashboard in her medical school applications.
“It was great research experience that emphasized the importance of diversity within health care and medicine, and the unique characteristics of Indigenous communities, as well as how to use spreadsheets to create an interactive database,” Theodorou said.
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