Research Education in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency

The National Academy of Medicine and the National Institute of Mental Health have described a critical shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAPs) who pursue research as a major part of their career. Several efforts have sought to increase the number of CAP researchers, but the workforce remains insufficient to translate rapidly emerging genetic, developmental neurobiology, and epidemiology findings into the clinic. We are determined to improve the yield of researchers for our field by developing an R25-funded research track that is focused specifically on child and adolescent psychiatry residency. Here, we propose to create the Research Education in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (RE-CAP) research track within the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell / Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute CAP residency, the largest program in the U.S. With our multiple institution partnership, we are able draw from our two top-ten psychiatry residency programs, in addition to recruiting promising trainees from across the country. Fulfilling the stated goal of the NIMH R25 mechanism (PAR-20-094) to “develop, maintain, and expand the interest and ability of psychiatry residents to conduct research…”, we will provide enhanced exposure to clinical and translational research in the first year of CAP residency in order to develop and expand interest in research. The R25 funding will permit a select group of residents to extend their second year of clinical training into two years, while receiving greater than 50% protected time for research. Intensive mentorship from world-class scientists at Columbia University or Weill Cornell Medical College will provide them substantial momentum to enter a competitive postdoctoral research fellowship and sustain a trajectory toward a research career.