Summer Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry

Jeste, Dilip

Abstract

This is an application for a Summer Research Institute in Geriatric psychiatry. This Summer Institute, under the auspices of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), is designed for twenty-five promising post-residency (M.D. or D.O.) and post-doctoral (Ph.D.y Psy.D. or Pharm.D.) Fellows as well as a limited number of residents and junior faculty persons who have a strong potential for a successful research career in geriatric psychiatry. The annual one-week long Summer Institute will focus on the tools needed to begin, maintain and succeed on this career path. It will be offered at selected sites; up to five sites will host the Institute over the five-year period (one-site per year). The Institute will include one-to-one mentoring as well as group seminars and workshops. There are plans for continued communication between trainees and mentors after the Institute, including workshops at annual meetings of the AAGP. For the field of geriatric psychiatry research, the goals of the Summer Institutes are; 1) to increases the number of talented individuals in the """"""""pipeline"""""""" of developing investigators; and 2) to broaden he base of geriatric psychiatry research by making research careers more accessible to clinical trainees and junior faculty members from institutions that do not currently have active program sof research in this field. For participating trainees, the goals are; 1) to increase general knowledge of what research involves and motivation for a research career in geriatric psychiatry; 2) to provide knowledge regarding current issues and methods in geriatric psychiatry research; and, 3) to foster relationships with established investigators who can work with trainees over the longer term as mentors or consultants, and among the cohort group of developing clinical-investigator to facilitate peer support and collaborative research. The strengths of this proposal are: the need for this type of training mechanism; the resources available at various potential host sites; the training experience of the PL and the Co-PI; the collaborative experience of many institutions interested in participating int he Summer Institute; the proposed recruitment and selection criteria for the Summer Institute, as they strongly encourage the participation of women and minorities; input from an External Advisory Group and an Executive Committee comprised of senior scientists from different centers; the evaluation mechanisms proposed; and the overall administrative structure, including an experienced Institute-Manager. It is the ultimate goal of the Summer institute to increase the number of qualified new scientists in the field of geriatric psychiatry.