This proposal seeks support for a Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators held during the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). This annual event has taken place in each of the past 17 years under the sponsorship of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) in 2012 with administrative direction from the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE). Primary specific aims of this proposal are to: (1) identify current and future senior psychiatric residents research fellows and junior faculty psychiatrists (with special emphasis on ethnic/racial minorities and women) who are promising candidates for successful research careers;(2) provide a one-day intensive, mentored, training session that will allow these participants to present their current or proposed research protocols in small group sessions and;(3) to receive faculty mentoring and peer feedback. Additional specific aims are to: (1) encourage Colloquium participants to maintain a research career path and;(2) provide information and resources that will enable them to obtain outside funding and launch successful research careers, as measured by the receipt of grant support, publication in peer-reviewed journals, and academic appointments at research institutions. The Colloquium is designed around a one-day workshop that is held annually on the Sunday that ends the meeting of the Society for Biological Psychiatry and begins the APA annual meeting. A total of 30 junior investigators will be selected to participate and will meet in small groups of three to five trainees and two faculty, where the trainees will provide a 15-20 minute presentation of their current or proposed study. Participants will also be required to present a poster during a noon poster session where they will receive additional faculty mentoring. NIMH currently is able to provide support for the Colloquium every other year. This submission seeks support to maintain the Colloquium on an annual basis. The current proposal further extends this well-established and highly regarded program by expanding the emphasis on minority researchers, focusing specific content on disparities in health care research, and providing opportunities throughout the year for participants to have """"""""booster sessions"""""""" through access to an interactive research training website. This website has been developed with support from a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract on which APIRE has served as sub-contractor. The website provides lectures, power-point presentations, case- studies, self-assessment questions, and opportunities for threaded discussions on an array of research content, including statistical consultation, writing research proposals, critically appraising the research literature, and research ethics. To expand the Colloquium's focus on young minority psychiatric researchers, APA has sponsored a panel discussion, """"""""Developing and Sustaining Research Careers: Psychiatrists from Underrepresented Groups Share their Experiences"""""""". This discussion among four minority psychiatrists, moderated by Annelle Primm, M.D., M.P.H., APA's Director of Minority and National Affairs, focuses on the challenges and obstacles faced by these researchers as well as the influences that supported their careers. The hour-long panel discussion, as well as a six minute overview, is available on DVD. This submission also includes responses from a survey of former Colloquium participants, highlighting their academic and research achievements.
The Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators is a one day conference that is held during the APA annual meeting for psychiatry residents, research fellows, and junior faculty that are starting research careers to meet with senior research mentors to receive advice on their planned research studies. Follow-up booster sessions via a website portal also are available for the next cohort.
