Critical Research Issues in Latino Mental Health

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的几年里，由主要研究者领导的西班牙裔心理健康研究人员联盟每年举行一次关于西班牙裔心理健康问题和研究策略的全国会议，作为指导年轻研究人员的工具。这些会议促进了新的研究合作，并导致许多科学出版物和赠款申请提交，随后得到资助。该会议已被用作其他少数群体在NIH研究人员中代表不足的模式，以刺激这一领域所需的增长。尽管取得了这一重大进展，但任务仍远未完成。由于美国西班牙裔人口的大规模扩张，在非常需要的时候，西班牙裔和其他研究人员仍然严重短缺。该提案寻求支持一系列新的年度会议，讨论与西班牙裔人口相关的心理健康问题，这些会议将交替主题和地点。其主要目的是汇集有前途的新的研究人员与高级研究人员，努力刺激必要的网络和指导，以促进新的研究人员进入西班牙裔心理健康研究。该计划将由一个由西班牙裔和非西班牙裔导师和高级研究人员组成的组委会指导。美国西班牙裔精神病学家协会以及选定的“主办机构”将在每年共同主办会议方面发挥作用，并将为组织方案和相关活动作出贡献。每年平均将通过竞争选拔20名（18-22名）有前途的新研究员。这些新的研究人员将与优秀的高级研究人员配对，期望在会议上提出的论文将导致同行评审的出版物。会议还将有一名“主旨发言人”，就会议主题提供综合性概述。此外，我们将提供由专家领导的特定研究问题的特别会议（研究补助金机会，补助金写作技巧，研究方法）。会议的成果将被跟踪，其中将包括同行评审的出版物数量，新的研究人员提交/资助的赠款，导师-学员对的质量方面以及网络和新合作的措施。对于2007年，即新奖项的第一年，我们建议于2007年11月在南佛罗里达举行会议，地点待定。2007年会议的主题将是“初级保健-心理健康伙伴关系：关注西班牙裔患者”。该提案寻求支持一系列新的年度会议，讨论与西班牙裔人口相关的心理健康问题，这些会议将交替主题和地点。其主要目的是汇集有前途的新的研究人员与高级研究人员，努力刺激必要的网络和指导，以促进新的研究人员进入西班牙裔心理健康研究。刺激新的研究职业旨在改善美国西班牙裔人之间的心理健康差异。造成这种差异的部分原因是缺乏关注少数民族心理健康的研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): For the last several years, a consortium of Hispanic Mental Health researchers led by the principal investigator has held annual national conferences on Hispanic Mental Health issues and research strategies as a vehicle for mentoring young investigators. These conferences have stimulated new research collaborations and led to numerous scientific publications and grant application submissions that were subsequently funded. The conference has been used as a model for other minority groups underrepresented among NIH researchers in their quest to stimulate needed growth in this area. Despite this significant progress, the task remains far from complete. There remains a serious shortage of Hispanic and other investigators working on Hispanic mental health research at a time of great need due to the massive expansion of the US Hispanic population. This proposal seeks support for a new series of yearly conferences on Mental Health issues relevant to Hispanic populations that will alternate theme and location. The major aim is to bring together promising new investigators with senior investigators in an effort to stimulate the networking and mentoring necessary to promote the entry of new investigators into Hispanic Mental Health research. The program will be guided by an organizing committee composed of Hispanic and non- Hispanic mentors and senior researchers. The American Society of Hispanic Psychiatrists as well as selected "host institutions" will play a role in co-sponsoring the conferences each year and will contribute to structuring the program and related activities. An average of twenty (18-22) promising new investigators will be competitively selected each year. These new investigators will be paired with outstanding senior investigators with the expectation that papers presented at the meeting will result in peer-reviewed publications. The conferences will also feature a "keynote speaker" to provide an integrative overview on the theme of the meeting. In addition, we will offer special sessions led by experts on specific research issues (research grant opportunities, grant writing skills, research methodology). Outcomes of the conference will be tracked and these will include number of peer reviewed publications, grants submitted/funded by the new investigators, quality aspects of mentor-mentee pairs and measures of networking and new collaborations. For 2007, the first year of the new award, we propose to hold the conference in November 2007 in South Florida at a location to be decided at a later time. The theme for the 2007 conference will be "Primary Care-Mental Health Partnerships: A Focus on Hispanic Patients". This proposal seeks support for a new series of yearly conferences on Mental Health issues relevant to Hispanic populations that will alternate theme and location. The major aim is to bring together promising new investigators with senior investigators in an effort to stimulate the networking and mentoring necessary to promote the entry of new investigators into Hispanic Mental Health research. The stimulation of new research careers is intended to improve the mental health disparities that are experienced among Hispanics in the US. The disparities have been partly attributed to the lack of available researchers focusing on mental health among ethnic minorities.