Partnership to prevent liver cancer with Pascua Yaqui communities
Official title: Pilot Project 1: A Partnership to Advance Liver Cancer Prevention with Pascua Yaqui Tribal Communities
Funded at Northern Arizona University · NIH-11195086 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project works with Pascua Yaqui and other American Indian and Alaska Native adults to check how common fatty liver is, learn about liver cancer risks, and adapt a proven lifestyle program to lower those risks.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northern Arizona University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Flagstaff, United States) |
| Project start | September 29, 2009 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $157,183 |
| NIH project number | 5U54CA143925-17 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195086 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are American Indian and Alaska Native adults (21+) who receive care at participating tribal clinics, especially those with obesity, diabetes, or other liver disease risk factors.
✕Less likely to help
People under 21, those not served by the participating tribal clinics, or people already needing active treatment for advanced liver cancer are unlikely to get direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would be invited through tribal clinics to share your views on liver cancer risks and to have basic health checks for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); the team plans to enroll about 150 adults. The researchers will measure how common NAFLD and related risk factors are in the community and will collect people's lived experiences with diet, activity, and access to care. Based on community feedback and measurements, the team will tailor an existing evidence-based lifestyle program (DPTP) so it fits local culture and clinic settings. The effort aims to create a sustainable, clinic-based prevention approach that tribal communities can use and share back with participants.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help catch fatty liver earlier and offer culturally adapted lifestyle support that lowers future liver cancer risk in AIAN communities.
How similar studies have gone: Lifestyle interventions have reduced metabolic risk and can lower fatty liver risk in other groups, but adapting and testing these programs specifically in Pascua Yaqui and other AIAN communities is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sanderson, Priscilla Rose — Northern Arizona University
- Study coordinator: Sanderson, Priscilla Rose
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.