. This Conference Grant application is to request funding to support three annual conferences aimed at sharing state of the art scientific research and best professional practices to address the mental health disparities of racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants. The successive themes for the three years are (a) addressing the intersections between race and culture in scientific research and mental health service delivery for children, adolescents, and families;and (b) examination of the intersection of culture, race, and trauma and mental health across the life span;and (c) racial identity and cultural factors in treatment and service delivery (Each conference builds upon the recommendations of Dr. David Satcher's supplemental report, Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity;the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Report: Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America;the mission of NIMH;as well as the longstanding objectives of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) at Boston College. In an effort to reduce mental health disparities among People of Color relative to non-minorities, each conference involves sharing innovative, pragmatic, and empirically based strategies for delineating and addressing the mental health burdens of ethnic and linguistic minorities. The primary common goals and objectives of each of the conferences are to: (1) Share state of the art mental health theory, research, and practice with respect to the roles of race and culture in the etiology, maintenance, and remediation of mental health disparities;(2) Use strategies to engage scientist- practitioners and mental health service providers in interdisciplinary communication and collaboration to address the role of culture and race in their research, practice, and service delivery. (3) Develop and disseminate information regarding race and culture and mental health disparities. Speakers for the conference will be nationally and internationally acknowledged researchers and clinicians presenting in their areas of expertise via interactive formats. Each of the thematic 2-day conferences will take place at the Diversity Challenge conference at Boston College in successive years, October of 2007, 2008, and 2009. Each thematic conference will be characterized by varied formats consisting of plenary sessions, individual presentations, concurrent workgroups, roundtable discussions, and informational poster and exhibit sessions intended to achieve the stated aims. Proceedings from the conference will be disseminated through published monographs, and on the ISPRC web site. Thematic books based on each conference will be co-edited by the co-PIs. The conference grant addresses mental health disparities of People of Color in the United States. This focus is consistent with the Surgeon General's Supplemental Report on Race, Culture, and Mental Health, the President's New Freedom Commission report, and the mission of NIMH, which identified these populations as being at significant public health risk and called for interventions to eliminate the health disparities.
