Indigenous NAU students hope research will help their communities [Video]

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) —Indigenous students comprise about 5% of Northern Arizona University’s student body. While the percentage is small, a group of research students is making big impacts on campus and back home.

Chiara Holgate is one of five NAU students in this year’s Honors Native American Summer Research Program.

Her focus is on heart health in Indigenous communities like her own.

“The study is called the just-in-time study,” Holgate said. “It’s a remote heart monitoring intervention for members with chronic heart disease within Arizona Tribes.”

The program is funded by a $25,000 Arizona Lottery Grant, which gives students and faculty everything they need to complete the five-week research project.

NAU assistant professor Scott Drum worked along Holgate and said it’s incredible to see this opportunity help students blossom.

“Giving them at experience, that real-world experience is the big thing and having the lightbulb go in for what are their interests and then having them strive for something …