Q. What will be the membership structure?
A.
The proposed membership structure will be based on interest and subject
qualifications. Our current proposal is that there will be
"mentors," "Collaborators" and "student learners"
Q: What do these terms mean?
A: A Mentor is someone who has subject matter expertise and is
willing to work with a collaborator or student learner and help them
become subject matter expert. In a sense they are teachers.
A collaborator is someone who has subject matter expertise but is not able to mentor (due to time constraints).
A
Student learner is someone who is interested in a subject matter and is
willing to work with and learn from a mentor and/or collaborator.
Q: Are these terms fixed?
A:
Absolutely not! Our goal is that with the help and guidance from mentor(s) and
collaborator(s), the student learner will become an expert in the subject
matter and "graduate" to become a collaborator and/or mentor. Also, a
student learner in one topic can be a subject matter expert in
another. For example: a medical student may have limited knowledge
on the subject of breast cancer and will work with a mentor with expertise in breast
cancer. But the student learner may be proficient in technology
use and may be a mentor to others on that subject.
Q: That seems sort of arbitrary, what do you think?
A: Yes, it is. But it
helps us develop a resource list that can give us a snap shot of the
resources available. If you have a suggestion to improve on this model, please let us
know.
Q: Do I have to be South Asian to participate?
A: Absolutely NOT! All that is needed is the interest in
the community. We believe that by studying this population, we
will not only improve the health of the community, but also may find
way to improve the health of other communities as well.
Q: Are you afraid of misuse of the information available?
A: Is misuse of the information or the "wiki" technology
possible? Yes, and we will have to guard against it. Our
goal is to provide an infrastructure (starting with information) for
everyone to use -- to achieve this goal, we have to make information
freely available. Anytime there is a free platform, there is a
potential for misuse and abuse. We will have to self-police
ourselves and do the best we can. We do have a successful model to
follow (Wikipedia).
Q: What about duplicity of work and research material?
A: We hope that when someone uses
the information and data from our database, they will let us know of
their intention for use by updating the database of "ongoing
research." If there are multiple members interested in the same
topic (e.g., critical review of all publications dealing with "diabetic
nephropathy"). They will be encouraged to collaborate.
Again, we are hoping that those who will join us believe in our values
of collaboration and openness. We hope that those who are doing
medical research will do so ethically. Due to the paucity of the
data (and thus many many more questions to be answered),
there will be enough projects to work on for everyone.
Q: How do you support research? Do you provide funding?
A: At this time, we support research
by providing information (database of medical knowledge), guidance, and
a list of possible collaborators. We currently do not provide
financial support, but may do so in the future as the organization
matures.
A: First of all, if you use our infrastructure, we hope that you will acknowledge us in some manner. Clearly, the entity that provides you financial support, will be the listing entity in your publication. But we hope that you will acknowledge the any type of support that SAHRI provided (idea, inspiration, information, collaborators etc.). It will help us become more visible and encourage others to join in our effort. This in turn help us develop into a mature and financially stable organization. It is our ultimate goal to have a Research Center that will actually have researchers on staff who will perform research at SAHRI's physical location.
Q: Why such reliance on technology?
A: For the work that we want to do (get as many people as possible involved) and how we want to proceed (collaborating across the globe) technology will be the most important ENABLER for us. As we mature, the technologies mature, our use will also change. Currently we use Google SAHRI E-Group, this blog and Wiki Database. With technology, we can also be more efficient.
Q: How do you work with other organizations?
A: We plan to work with all the organizations that already exist or will start. All the organizations, whether they are professional, cultural, religious, or educational...., if the goals are in the same direction, we will work with them, By no means do we want to replicate work done by others. We want to provide a platform that will allow other organizations to work better.
Q: How do I benefit from being involved with SAHRI?
A: It absolutely depends on what your goals are. If your goal is to work with or for the community, there is certainly a place for you. How you benefit will depend on what you want to accomplish. We hope that we can provide support in your efforts, you have to let us know how.
Q: Why so vague on the above question?
A: Well, there are some concrete examples that we can give now, but details of each individual's benefit will be different. For example, if you are a medical student or a resident and want to work in an area... you can benefit by finding mentors who are working in your area of interest.... you can work with the mentor to develop a project... you can work with the mentor and other support staff to finish and publish the project.
If you are a community organization, you can benefit by finding experts in your area who are willing to spend time and advise on how to improve the community's health.
If you are an IT organization, see the answer to the next question.
Q: Show me the money! (or how do I REALLY BENEFIT from being involved with SAHRI?)
A: The spirit of entrepreneurship that you have will have to dictate how you really ($) benefit. As you get involved with the projects, we will identify "needs of the community" or "needs of the professionals." A business plan may be developed to fulfill those needs (i.e., gym, health food store, cardiac rehab centers for the community; online health management systems for the professionals and the community).
