Sara Young of Montana State University will speak on 'Building Health Disparities Research Capacity in Montana's Tribal Colleges' Nov. 2nd

The University of New England will host a lecture titled "Building Health Disparities Research Capacity in Montana's Tribal Colleges" by Sara Young, Health Disparities Core co-director at Montana State University on Nov. 2, 2011.

The lecture will be held at noon in the Ludcke Auditorium on UNE's Portland Campus and will also be streamed live.

The lecture is sponsored by UNE's InterProfessional Education Collaborative, Multicultural & Diversity Services and Center for Community and Public Health..

Young is also the director of Tribal and Tribal College Partnerships and CBPR. She has several roles at Montana State University where she directs outreach to tribal colleges in Montana for the Idea Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) and serves as a liaison between tribal colleges in Montana and the Montana State University NSF EPSCoR programs. 

She served as the director of the American Indian Research Opportunities (AIRO) program for many years where she worked with American Indian students from all of Montana's reservation schools and with representatives of Montana's seven tribal colleges.

Through the AIRO program, Young directed the Montana Apprenticeship Program, (MAP) a summer research internship program for American Indian high school students and implemented academic and financial support programs for American Indian students enrolled at Montana State University in biomedical majors. 

Her work with American Indian education has been recognized through numerous awards and appointments but most notably she received the Montana Indian Educator of the Year in 2003 and the 2002 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Prior to her work at the university level, Young served as the administrator of schools on both the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations.  She was actively involved in the establishment of Little Big Horn College on her home reservation. 

Young is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe and holds a master's degree in educational leadership.  She has lived most of her life on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations and currently lives at Lame Deer, Montana.