Recruitment of Undergraduates to Mental Health Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to the need to recruit new investigators into the field of mental health research, this application requests competing continuation support for the R-25 program, "Recruitment of Undergraduates for Mental Health Research" -a collaborative effort between the Department of Psychiatry and the Departments of Neuroscience, Biological Sciences, Psychology and Chemistry of the University of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Mellon University. The program features a full year of intensive research experience for promising undergraduate science majors with an interest in mental health relevant research. The ultimate aim is to provide early exposure to hands-on research to undergraduates to increase the national pool of talented students who go on to seek post-baccalaureate training in preparation for careers in mental health research. This unique undergraduate research education program consists of: 1) a 12-month research experience, conducting supervised research on a scientific question with direct relevance to mental health or mental disorders; 2) a didactic educational program featuring courses in clinical neuroscience and psychiatry; and 3) a ten week summer program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) that provides exposure to clinical care in psychiatry, lectures in clinical research, and visits to a clinical labs and facilities. The program represents a timely example of the NIMH's continuing effort to promote active collaboration between clinical and basic science researchers, in this case in the education of undergraduate science students. It capitalizes on the extraordinary strengths of the institutions involved and their past and continuing success in inter-disciplinary collaboration on educational and research programs. Follow-up data for the first eight groups of graduates indicate that a remarkably high percentage have entered MD, MD/Ph.D. or Ph.D. programs in the health sciences (68%) or are completing research preparatory to application to these programs (an additional 18%). Our findings to date provide evidence of feasibility and effectiveness in identifying and recruiting talented undergraduate students into a mental health research education program, as well as evidence of the continuing progress of a large majority (86%) in pursuing further education and training in the health sciences. Based on the success of this program to date, we propose to continue this program over the next five years to: increase the number of students trained (from the current 92 to :[72), expand to include two full-time medical students per year in the program, evaluate both short- and long-term career education and training pathways of trainees, and evaluate the longer-range impact of the program on recruitment into the field of mental health research and mental health-related sciences.