This application (and response to the Program Announcement, entitled """"""""Mental Health Education Grants"""""""") requests competing continuation support for the R-25 program, """"""""Recruitment of Undergraduates for Mental Health Research"""""""" that received three years of initial NIMH funding as a pilot project and has been continued for a fourth year with a no-cost administrative extension. This program is a collaborative effort between the Department of Psychiatry and the Departments of Neuroscience, Biological Sciences, Psychology and Chemistry of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. It provides a 12-month intensive research education experience to talented undergraduate science majors who seek post-baccalaureate training in preparation for careers in mental health-relevant research. The ultimate goal is to identify exceptionally talented students who have an aptitude in the sciences and recruit them to careers in mental health research. This unique undergraduate research education program consists of a practical research experience in a clinical or basic science laboratory for one full year, conducting supervised research on a scientific question with direct relevance to mental health or mental disorders; a didactic educational program featuring courses in clinical neuroscience and psychiatry; and a ten-week summer program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) that provides exposure to clinical care in psychiatry, lectures in clinical research, and visits to a clinical labs and facilities. The program represents a timely example of the NIMH's continuing effort to promote active collaboration between clinical and basic science researchers, in this case in the education of undergraduate science students. It capitalizes on the extraordinary strengths of the institutions involved and their past and continuing successful inter-disciplinary collaboration on educational and research programs. The pilot stage of this program offers evidence of feasibility and effectiveness in identifying and recruiting talented undergraduate students into a mental health research education program, as well as the enthusiastic participation of senior clinical researchers in the education of undergraduate students. We propose to continue this program with an expanded recruitment effort over the next five years to: increase the number and diversity of students trained, further develop and refine the curriculum, and continue to evaluate short- and longer-term outcomes of the program--in terms of trainees' completion of their research projects, successful publication of research findings, and their subsequent career decisions and choices--at annual follow-up evaluations over a period of five years following their university graduation
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