Developmental programs and University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at Children's Hospital Boston and STAART/Autism Center for Excellence at Boston University (BU), in collaboration with academic programs at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) are requesting 5-year NIMH R25 grant support to establish an interdisciplinary research education program in Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MH/DD). This revised new R25 application addresses urgent NIMH priorities for recruitment, retention, and training of young scientists in MH/DD research. The research domains include: developmental psychopathology, developmental cognitive neuroscience, child psychiatric epidemiology, interventions, services and policies- relevant to MH/DD. Two research training tracks will be offered: (1) NIMH Summer Internships for medical students at BU, HMS, and other national schools (n=8, 8 wks);and (2) NIMH Academic Year Fellowships for advanced research degree candidates or for research-oriented psychiatry/child psychiatry residents and other mental health clinician-trainees during """"""""bridge"""""""" years to enhance MH/DD research (n=3;12-mos). Trainees will participate in mentored research project and structured instruction for development of research ideas, ethics and career management. The program will utilize collaborative learning, national and international research networks through IT, traditional contents/methods seminar, and keynote colloquia emphasizing MH/DD research themes. The strength of this program include: (a) excellent record of running both national (prior R25) and international (D43 Fogarty ICOHRTA) training programs;(b) promotion of MH/DD research as flagship of interdisciplinary research training;(c) nested research within nationally recognized UCEDD and STAART Centers for Excellence;(d) dedicated record of mentoring;(e) diversity of trainee recruitment;(f) diversity of program faculty role models;(g) institutional supports for integration of research with academic timetables;(h) cost sharing mechanisms through time donated by faculty, coursework and sponsorship in scientific meetings (e.g., IACAPAP, IASSID);and (I) partnerships with families and parent autism associations. This program greatly enriches opportunities available to U.S. citizens/residents in mental health research in autism, related disorders, and many other serious childhood developmental disorders, and offers both national and international perspectives for research capacity building efforts worldwide, with U.S. investigators, and NIMH, taking a leading role.
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