This competitive continuation application requests a five-year renewal for our institutional national research service award (T32) entitled, ?Research Training in Child Mental Health.? Support is requested for six postdoctoral fellows. The overarching aim of this program is to train the next generation of researchers to design and carry out innovative research projects that will help advance knowledge in the field of child mental health. Strengths of the program include a breadth of faculty research interests and expertise, a number of faculty members conducting T2-T3 translational research, and research projects with diverse, underserved and disadvantaged populations. The program embraces an apprenticeship model in which fellows work with a primary research mentor, and in many cases, a secondary research mentor. In the apprenticeship model, the mentor works closely with the trainee on existing projects, secondary data analyses, grant writing, and scientific presentations. The didactic program includes both a core and individualized curriculum including seminars on grant writing, responsible conduct of research, professional development, and innovative multidisciplinary approaches to research. This latter seminar helps stimulate discussion of translational research ideas within the context of the NIMH strategic plan. The breadth of research interests, from basic to applied, helps broaden research perspectives and educate fellows with respect to the process of collaboration and conducting research across disciplines. During this past cycle we have trained 17 T32 postdoctoral fellows (10 graduates, 7 still enrolled); 7 additional postdoctoral fellows funded by F32s, a diversity supplement, and other sources also took part in the T32 training. Of the 10 graduates of the T32 in this 5th cycle, all have faculty positions, 7 in medical schools and 3 in psychology departments; all have submitted NIH grants as PIs during their fellowship, and 4 K awards, a 40% hit rate, were funded. Fifteen of 17 former T32 fellows from our prior (4th) cycle have faculty positions and they have been awarded a total of 11 NIH PI grants including 3 R01s (and a 4th awaiting funding with a 5th percentile), an R03, R34, R21, R21/R33, and 3 K awards. Three Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator awards have also been secured. The 10 graduates from the 5th cycle have published 195 peer-reviewed papers (M = 19.5), 80 first author (M = 8), and 65 (M = 6.5) directly related to their fellowship research. The 17 graduates in the 4th cycle have published 453 peer-reviewed manuscripts (M = 26.6), 171 first author (M = 10.1), and 125 (m = 7.4) directly related to their fellowships. In this competing continuation, we integrate new, accomplished independent investigators into the mentoring pool, introduce mentor training opportunities, expand our scientific reach to wet-lab research, and expand opportunities for exposure to team science.
The World Health Organization ranks childhood psychiatric disorders among the five most common causes of childhood morbidity. Yet, research on child psychiatric disorders is quite limited when compared to the breadth and depth of study on adult psychiatric disorders. Consequently training a new cohort of researchers able to conduct independent research in child mental health is an important public health priority.
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