INCREASING DIVERSITY IN ADVANCED RESEARCH AND EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP IN MENTAL HEALTH

NIMH
ID: HHSN271200774104C
PI: MELISSA DEROSIER, PHD
TERM: 05/07 – 04/10

Over the past fifteen years, there has been a significant increase in the number of women and people of color entering research careers in mental health intervention and service science. However, there has been relatively little growth in the number who are awarded advanced programmatic grants or appointed to executive academic positions in these fields. In order to be successful in these endeavors, scientists need to blend specific scientific/technical knowledge with executive leadership skills tailored to the specific needs of intervention and service researchers.

In response to a contract solicitation from NIMH, 3-C ISD successfully submitted a Phase I proposal to develop and evaluate a prototype suite of training tools and mentoring strategies (workshops, training materials, web-based training, etc.) to enhance the research and executive leadership capacity of mental health intervention and service researchers who are women and/or people of color. Based on workgroup data gathered from a diverse set of researchers, 3-C ISD developed a proposal for a website along with a four-day, in-person Leadership Training Institute focusing on 1) multi-disciplinary training for researchers from diverse institutions and disciplines (social work, psychiatry, psychology, etc.), 2) specific tailoring to the needs of intervention and service scientists, and 3) both advanced scientific content and leadership skills that are integrated and specific to the needs of researchers who are women and/or people of color.

This Phase II project seeks to increase diversity in research and leadership positions in mental health by providing advanced training and mentoring opportunities via a Leadership Training Institute (LTI) in combination with a customized website. The LTI was held in Bethesda, MD in 2008, and the website developed in early 2009. The website includes videotaped LTI presentations on crucial topics such as grantsmanship, networking skills, and career planning, as well as on-line opportunities for continued mentoring and communication among members. The topics and interactive activities included in the LTI are aimed at trainees who are at the often-difficult transition periods of early to mid career, or mid to senior level, points at which many researchers leave the researcher career path. Currently, data are being analyzed, and a Final Report will be sent to NIH in April, 2010.

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DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

Chief of Research and Learning Content

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Expertise

  • autism
  • early development
  • behavioral measurement
  • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

Selected Publications

  • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
  • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
  • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
  • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.