In fiscal year 2019 (FY19) the OFT processed 564 personnel cases for trainees and trainee Special Volunteers. The OFT provided training to all NIMH IRP administrative staff on the processing of trainee personnel cases. The OFT provided 14 faculty with 18 Predoc IRTA slots including travel and tuition, and 17 faculty and staff with 20 diversity and inclusion slots for Postbac IRTAs. The OFT provided monthly orientations to non-FTEs which covered information relevant to the NIH and NIMH organization, function and mission, and reference materials on ethical conduct of research and mentorship. Upon request, the OFT provided orientations for new Administrative Officers, Technicians, and Administrative Support Staff on the administration of trainee personnel cases. The OFT web content, was updated and revised throughout FY19 to include archives of past and present trainee highlights, and photos from various NIMH IRP events. The OFT web content received an average of 3,500 unique page views each month in FY19. The OFT continued to expand its LinkedIn Group which now has 138 members and posts career and professional development content at least twice weekly. The OFT meets with trainees to provide career and professional development guidance and to solicit their feedback and input during and upon completion of their training. In FY19 the OFT invited Faculty and Staff participants to serve on the OFT Steering Committee for the 2018/19 term to focus on developing institute guidelines for Postbac Training to be implemented in FY20. Symposia/Seminar Series In FY 19 the OFT and Fellows Committee sponsored/organized the 21st Annual NIMH IRP Fellows Scientific Training Day at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The event will be held on September 16, 2019 and is expected to be attended by more than 220 trainees, faculty, staff, administrators and members of the NIMH leadership. The OFT held the first NIH, KI, UCL Joint Neuroscience Symposium April 9-11, 2019 to bring together students/faculty from the KI-NIH and UCL-NIMH Graduate Programs to share their science with the NIH campus. The OFT organized and held the 11th Annual Julius Axelrod Symposium in the Porter Neuroscience Center in April 2019 to honor the 2018 SfN Axelrod Prize recipient Dr. Stephen Waxman, the ACNP Axelrod Mentor Award recipient Dr. Ellen Leibenluft, and the NIMH Axelrod Fellowship Awardee Dr. Ed Silson. In conjunction with the Fellows Committee the OFT organized and sponsored the monthly Fellows Afternoon Neuroscience Seminar Series (FANS) for Trainees to share their science, practice their presentation skills and network with their NIMH colleagues. The OFT organized the 2018/19 IRP Investigator Seminar Series, designed to familiarize IRP fellows and faculty with their colleagues' research and the NIMH IRP Women Scientist Discussion Series for all women scientists in the NIMH IRP. In FY19 the Women Scientist Discussion Series included a talk by Dr. Renae Ryan on Gender Equity and the OFT brought the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) to NIMH to provide a mentoring workshop for Staff Scientists, Staff Clinicians, Faculty and Senior Trainees. The OFT and Office of the Clinical Director (OCD) worked together to offer a portfolio of training specifically for Postbac trainees including a Statistics Course, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Application Workshop, a Clinical Psychology PhD Program Application Workshop and an MD Program Application Workshop. Training OFT organized/sponsored the IRP Grantsmanship Workshop in conjunction with Grant Writers Seminars and Workshops, LLC. Training was provided in three phases, gradually transitioning from didactic introductory material (Phase I) to an intensive grant-writing experience in the form of an individualized tutorial (Phase III). In FY19 Phase I provided training in Grantsmanship to 85 trainees from NIMH, and 8 other institutes. Five fellows participated in Phase II, and 6 trainees participated in Phase III. This year, NIMH Trainees submitted grant proposals for K99, K22, Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Grant and private funding including National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). The OFT offered a seminar for Postdocs on career award mechanisms (K-Awards) given by NIMH Extramural Training Program Staff, and a seminar on PRAT Program application given by the PRAT Program Director, Dr. Kenneth Gibbs. To satisfy the NIH mandate to provide all NIH IRP scientific staff with training in Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), the OFT held Ethics for Lunch discussions on Unconcious Bias from August through November 2018. Three hundred forty-six NIMH IRP Scientific staff satisfied their research ethics training requirement. The OFT held a required RCR training session in July 2019 for 27 Summer Interns. The OFT was involved with the delivery of 2 RCR training sessions for Postbac and Predoc IRTAs across NIH in late 2018 and early 2019. In March of 2019 the OFT hosted a mandatory training session for NIMH trainees with Dr. Sharon Milgram and CIVIL to introduce the new NIH Anti-Harassment Policy and Personal Relationship Statement, to share the NIH resources that are in place to aid in creating a civil environment on the NIH campus and to field any questions. There were 200 trainees in attendance. In FY19 the OFT organized a series of Science Communication Seminars and Workshops that focused on topics including the Three Minute Talk (TmT). The TmT training will culminate in a final competition to be held at the Training Day. Fifteen trainees participated in the TmT training, 11 trainees received two individualized coaching sessions and 9 entered an NIMH IRP competition, 6 trainees are finalists. The OFT offered 1:1 consultation with a communications coach for scientific presentations and job talks to 22 trainees and staff. Negotiation Skills, Interview Skills, Elevator Pitch and Chalk Talk Workshops were offered in FY19 and were well attended with 20 to 60 attendees for each. The IRTA Tax Seminar was offered in February and September 2019 and provided our NIMH IRTAs guidance in drafting and submitting their annual and estimated taxes, and the unique tax requirement specific to the NIH IRTA. Approximately 90 trainees from NIMH, and other NIH ICs attended. OFT Administered Programs In FY19 the OFT supported 42 IRTA slots so that all NIMH Summer Interns were paid. Twenty-seven Principal Investigators hired Summer IRTAs. The Summer Internship Program (SIP) experience included an OFT-organized journal club and a Meet and Greet. This year, 35 summer interns participated in the NIH Summer Research Program Poster Day. The OFT provided weekly orientations in May/June and administrative support for all interns. In FY19 the OFT administered and directed the University College London-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience. Seventeen applications were received, 5 applicants were interviewed, 3 offers were made, with 1 acceptance. In addition, the UCL-NIMH Program MOU was revised and will be renewed in FY19. In FY19 the OFT administered and directed the NIH-Karolinska Institutet (NIH-KI) Program for Graduate Training in the Neurosciences. For the NIH-KI Program recruiting efforts, 9 applications were considered, 3 applicants were interviewed, 1 offer was made. In FY19 the OFT organized the NIMH IRP Take Your Child To Work Day efforts. Nine IRP Principal Investigators hosted a total of 27 sessions which were attended by approximately 585 young people. The OFT organized and hosted two additional sessions which were attended by 60 young people. The OFT participated in the selection of FY19 Outstanding Resident Award Program (ORAP) recipients and provided administrative support.
