Training the next generation of clinical neuroscientists

This renewal proposal requests support for years 6-10 of the T32MH122394 program “Training the next generation of clinical neuroscientists”, founded in 2020. We plan to continue to recruit 2 new postdoctoral fellows per year, and reappoint 3 trainees each year, for a total of 5 postdoctoral slots per year, as we have been doing since year 3 of the T32. Trainees are supported for 2-3 years, contingent on Steering Committee evaluation of their progress prior to competitive applications for reappointment for Year 3. Our T32 is led by Dr. René Kahn, MD, PhD, a renowned physician-scientist with an outstanding track record as an investigator and mentor in the field of neuroimaging and treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and multiple PIs Dr. Antonia New, MD, and Dr. Mercedes Perez, MD, PhD, both physician-scientists with extensive mentorship and research experience. Mount Sinai is the ideal place for this T32 program because of the strength of our Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Genetics/Genomics, which have been among the top 10 departments nationwide in NIH funding over the past 5 years, and have a wealth of diverse mentors. There is a focused institutional effort to support clinician-scientists and translational research. Psychiatry is a fertile medical specialty for translational research and clinician-scientists bring a unique perspective to research through the blend of clinical and research experiences. They are uniquely poised to bridge the gap between basic neurobiology and clinical disease and excel as leaders in translational research in psychiatry. Our T32 program aims to train clinician-scientists who will be able to combine clinical knowledge and expertise with superior research in psychiatry and neuroscience. One key goal is to increase the pool of physician-scientists, as there is high attrition after completion of clinical residency training. Our T32 program aims to address this by helping trainees acquire research skills and pilot data to obtain a career development (K) award. Our program will provide research protected time and coursework organized based on an Individual Development Plan. This training, coupled with outstanding mentoring, networking opportunities, grant writing seminars and an internal K award review process, will prepare promising clinician scientists and help accelerate the launch of productive, independent careers in translational psychiatry research. For this renewal, we have strengthened our curriculum in translational neuroscience by adding a track in AI, Natural Language Processing and Computational Psychiatry. In the 4 years since its creation, 8 fellows have been appointed to our T32 program and 4 have graduated. Our program has been highly successful in achieving the goals as shown by the following metrics: 1) high rates of trainee success (100%, 4/4) in obtaining faculty appointments, external grant funding, or other research-focused positions; 2) high number, quality and impact of trainee publications (mean publications=49; mean h-index=20); 3) highly qualified and diverse trainees, 38% from under-represented groups, 38% women and meeting our recruitment target of 50% physicians.