Primary Study Partners

ATSDR awarded a research cooperative agreement to University of New Mexico Community Environmental Health Program (UNM-CEHP) entitled “A Prospective Birth Cohort Study Involving Environmental Uranium Exposure in the Navajo Nation (U01),” in 2010. In order to carry out the study, ATSDR and UNM-CEHP are collaborating with the Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS) and the Navajo Nation Division of Health (NNDOH).

Through an interagency agreement with ATSDR, NAIHS hired project coordinators called Cohort Clinical Liaisons (CCLs) at each of the study clinics. The CCLs are responsible for conducting medical record abstractions, participant recruitment, and shipment of biological samples. Through a sole-source contract with ATSDR, NNDOH Community Health and Environmental Research Specialists (CHERs) provide survey administration, community education, recruitment, training, and outreach for the study. UNM is also collaborating with Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA), the Growing in Beauty Program, USEPA Region 9 and Navajo culture and language specialists to carry out the study.

Current study clinics include Northern Navajo Medical Center, Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility, Gallup Indian Medical Center, Tuba City Regional Health-Care Corporation, Tséhootsooí Medical Center and Kayenta Health Center.