Mentoring in technology enhanced mind body and lifestyle interventions

I am a mid-career clinical health psychologist with expertise in the iterative development and optimization of technology enhanced mind-body and lifestyle interventions for people with medical illness and their caregivers. To date I have mentored over 50 trainees (BS, MD or PhD) and 17 have obtained grants under my mentorship. To date I have co-authored over 160 peer reviewed manuscripts and over 100 of these are led by mentees. The midcareer K24 award would provide me with protected time to significantly: I) expand the quantity, breadth and quality of mentoring of junior investigators committed to mind-body research, including concerted efforts toward culturally humble mentoring of underrepresented trainees ( e.g., immigrants, first generation college students, and other racial and ethnic minorities) from the Boston area, nationally and internationally); and b) increase my research skills in digital health and health disparities as a foundation for leading future innovative and high impact studies within the field of mind-body medicine for medical patients and families. This K24 proposal outlines career development initiatives for enhancing my research program and the quality/quantity and diversity of mentoring including: I) participation in local and national faculty leadership and mentoring trainings; 2) additional coursework in digital health, novel clinical trial designs, and health disparities, 3) regular meetings with a team of internationally renowned senior advisors with complementary expertise linked to the K24 mentoring and research goals (Margarita Alegria, Maurizio Fava, David Henderson, Sherry Pagoto, Peter Wayne); and 4) re-allocation of time to dedicated mentoring. The K24 includes 3 interrelated program aims based on completed, current and pending research projects and vast opportunities for mentee training: I) To conduct rigorous research on mind-body interventions for people with acute and chronic illness, and their informal caregivers; 2) To use technology to bypass barriers to care (e.g., live video, telephone, mobile apps) and objectively monitor (e.g., accelerometers, Fitbit devices, passive sensors) outcomes; 3) To extend the reach of mind-body interventions to underserved populations ( e.g., individuals in rural areas, racial and ethnic minorities) who tend to be underrepresented in clinical research. Impact: The K24 award will provide me with protected time to engage in targeted mentoring in mind-body approaches to promising trainees from various backgrounds within a diverse, creative and supportive research environment. Simultaneously, it will afford me with valuable time to increase own mentoring, training and research skills in novel and timely research areas that are in line with NCCIH priorities.