In accordance with the goals of the NIMH Mental Health Education Program, Project L/EARN recruits members of ethnic and cultural groups traditionally under-represented in mental health related graduate programs, with the intent of increasing the number of minority researchers in the mental health field. Project L/EARN is a program of the multi-disciplinary Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (the Institute) at Rutgers University. Project L/EARN provides scientific training, experience and guidance to make undergraduate members of underrepresented groups successful candidates for admission to relevant graduate programs in mental health research. By increasing the number of well-trained undergraduates from underrepresented groups applying to graduate programs, Project L/EARN addresses the lack of diversity among health researchers. By providing sound training in statistics, sampling and study design we insure they will excel both in graduate training and as contributing members of the mental health research community. Our goal has been to increase the number of minority applicants to mental health related graduate programs through timely intervention early in the college experience while many students are exploring career options. The summer training component of Project L/EARN consists of a highly structured ten-week experience. During the first eight weeks, the program provides six hours of daily instruction in the principles of scientific inquiry including study design, methods of data collection, techniques of data management and statistical analysis, and fundamentals of statistical package programming. An instructor introduces the students to these topics in morning workshops. Teaching assistants reinforce the morning lessons in supervised homework sessions that meet in the afternoon. The instructor and teaching assistants are all Project L/EARN graduates. Faculty dedicate considerable time to Project L/EARN, providing guest lectures on a broad range of research issues, and serving as mentors. Each intern undertakes an independent research project under the guidance of their faculty mentor, and nightly reading assignments provide a broad foundation in current mental health research. The student poster session and oral presentations provide the opportunity for the interns to present their research projects, demonstrating the integration of the statistical, analytical and substantive issues. Project L/EARN successfully integrates its trainees into active research during the academic year. We request funds to support the summer training program as well as additional training/research experiences and attendance at professional conferences and other training programs.
| Pottick, Kathleen J; Bilder, Scott; Vander Stoep, Ann et al. (2008) US patterns of mental health service utilization for transition-age youth and young adults. J Behav Health Serv Res 35:373-89 |
| Steinberg, Michael B; Alvarez, Michelle S; Delnevo, Cristine D et al. (2006) Disparity of physicians' utilization of tobacco treatment services. Am J Health Behav 30:375-86 |
| Hudson, Shawna V; Momperousse, Dana; Leventhal, Howard (2005) Physician perspectives on cancer clinical trials and barriers to minority recruitment. Cancer Control 12 Suppl 2:93-6 |
