NIMH/M-RISP: ADVANCING RESEARCH IN PUERTO RICO

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This renewal application requests continued support for the NIMH MIRDP Program at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP). During the initial grant period , two individual research projects and an Institutional Core in support of research development were funded. For this competing renewal we are proposing an expansion of the institutional core. Five individual investigator research projects (IIRP) are proposed as part of this program. The general objective of our MIRDP program is to advance the growth of high quality and rigorous research on mental health and AIDS at the UPR-RP. We expect to accomplish this aim through: (l) Involving faculty members in conducting pilot work leading to a competitive research grant on mental health and HIV-AIDS (MHA) problems, specially evaluation and treatment outcome research. (2) increasing the participation of graduate and undergraduate students in MHA research. (3) Supporting research development activities for faculty involved in MHA research, and (4) Enhancing and strengthening the institutional infrastructure for conducting MHA research. The rationale for the program is based on the need to develop a parallel structure of support to carry out independent MHA research by minority faculty at a minority institution. The proposed program for faculty research development at UPR- RP consists of three components. The first component is an Institutional Core to support research infrastructure development through individually based plans of faculty research activities, faculty and student development activities, a methodological statistical core and a UPR-RP MIRDP Research Resource Center. The second component entails individual Faculty Research Projects. Five lIRPs are proposed with six participating faculty members. Twelve participants (ten affiliated faculty and two doctoral students will be involved in MHA pilot research. The third component involves Program Leadership and Evaluation in support of research and research development activities. A unique feature of the program is the organization of current institutional resources in a clear, coherent, and integrated plan of career development in support for MHA research. Faculty members are involved in carrying out their research from the moment the program begins and participate in a developmental individualized plan that supports the faculty member in a step by step approach toward the objective of producing a competitive research proposal. The participation of undergraduate and graduate students in the development of faculty research is another aspect of the program aimed at increasing the training opportunities offered to students in MHA research. Sixteen faculty' members and two doctoral students from graduate programs at the College of Social Science (Psychology, Sociology, Social Work) and the College of Education (Department of Graduate Studies) will participate in the proposed MIRDP.