The Community-Academic Research Training Alliance (CARTA) focuses on training the next generation of academic and community investigators in Psychosocial Interventions research with underserved populations. As has been pointed out by the APA and NIMH, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of evidence-based psychotherapies in low-income and minority populations. The faculty at UCSF involved in the CARTA program have long been involved in this type of research in partnership with community agencies. The main goal is to train investigators from academia and the community in how to build research partnerships around clinical interventions research. The main learning objects for fellows in this program are (1) to learn basic research design methodologies for interventions research with underserved populations, (2) learn how to build an academic/community partnership around a research question regarding psychosocial interventions, and (3) apply these principles to a pilot project to be done in partnership between academia and the community. CARTA's specific aims are as follows: 1. Train two post-doctoral fellows (Academic Fellow) every two years in the intricacies of conducting psychosocial interventions research with underserved populations in the agencies and settings that serve them. Through participation in didactics and through a research project with a community partner, fellows will gain an understanding of the needs of underserved populations, learn how to build partnerships with community agencies, and learn how to meet the challenges of conducting research in these settings by using recruitment methodologies, measurement techniques and alternative research designs that best fit the community context. 2. Train two people from community organizations (Agency Fellows) a year in the process of clinical research. The training program for the Agency fellows will consist of basic research design and research ethics, which will be illustrated through a research project that will be developed and implemented during the fellow's training year.
