Mentoring in Patient-Oriented Neuroscience Research

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PROJECT SUMMARY I am a clinical researcher and Director of the Neurodevelopmental Laboratory on Addictions and Mental Health at McLean Hospital. I also am an Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. I have been continuously funded as a principal investigator (PI) to conduct NIAAA-sponsored patient-oriented research (POR) since 2004 and have been a collaborator and consultant on multiple NIH-sponsored grants. My research focusing on understanding adolescent brain development, and risk for and underlying neurobiology of addiction and psychiatric disorders. During the first 5-year K24 period, I provided mentoring to 50 individuals ranging in rank from undergraduates through psychiatry residents and junior faculty. These mentees have made notable success, including publishing papers, submitting grant applications and being promoted. I work in a rich environment for clinical research, which is ideal for providing mentoring in POR. As I receive no institutional support for mentoring and will be required to curtail mentoring efforts to assume significant non- research responsibilities, a K24 renewal will continue to provide protected time that would allow me to maintain and increase my intensive mentorship to trainees, and attract new research mentees to POR. My immediate and long-term career objectives are to continue characterizing neurobiological markers in addiction and psychiatric disorders, which will inform the development of new and effective treatments for alcohol use disorders and for individuals with dual diagnoses, and to train the next generation of investigators to develop the skills they require to effectively conduct POR. I remain committed to disseminating research findings (through publications, scientific lectures and public outreach) and provide mentoring to trainees in public outreach, the goal of which is to provide education around alcohol research, which in turn will help prevention efforts and inform treatment interventions, to aid in the reduction of suffering due to alcohol use and abuse. The specific aims to be accomplished during the period of the award are to 1) provide substantive mentoring of junior investigators and trainees in POR (35%), with a focus on mentoring underrepresented minority trainees; 2) continue and extend involvement in my POR (10%), and 3) advance my expertise in the content areas of adolescent comorbid psychopathology, clinical approaches in adolescent treatment, and conducting research in vulnerable adolescent and adult populations, including racial/ethnically disadvantaged youth and those navigating gender identity development, both with established evidence of mental health disparities (5%). Despite the challenges imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, these mentoring relationships have continued to grow, and trainees are making significant strides in their paths toward POR. I remain deeply committed to the continued training of a remarkable group of mentees, who are the future of addiction and psychiatry POR. Through intensive mentoring I will enhance my POR by increasing my clinical perspectives, and by incorporating treatment and multicultural considerations into my POR initiatives.