Office of Fellowship Training

National Institute Of Mental Health

Investigators

Abstract

In fiscal year 2021 (FY21) the OFT processed 602 personnel cases for trainees and trainee Special Volunteers.The OFT provided training to all NIMH IRP administrative staff on the processing of trainee personnel cases. The OFT provided 12 faculty with 18 Predoc IRTA slots including travel and tuition, and 18 faculty with 24 diversity and inclusion slots for Postbac IRTAs.The OFT provided monthly orientations to non-FTEs which covered information relevant to the NIH and NIMH functions and missions, and reference materials on ethical conduct of research, safety and mentorship.Upon request, the OFT provided orientations for new Administrative Officers, Technicians, and Administrative Support Staff on the administration of trainee personnel cases.The OFT web content received an average of 4,425 unique page views each month from October 2020 to July 2021.The OFT continued to expand its LinkedIn Group which now has 247 members and posts career and professional development content weekly.The OFT meets with trainees to provide career and professional development guidance and to solicit their feedback and input during and upon completion of their training.In FY21 the OFT Steering Committee developed mentoring guidelines for Postbac Training that were published and implemented in Spring of 2021. Symposia/Seminar Series In FY21, the OFT and Fellows Committee organized the 23rd Annual NIMH IRP Fellows Scientific Training Day as a virtual meeting.The event will be held on September 24, 2021 and it is expected that more than 230 trainees, faculty, staff, administrators and NIMH leadership will attend.In conjunction with the Fellows Committee the OFT organized the monthly Fellows Afternoon Neuroscience Seminar Series (FANS) for Trainees to share their science, practice their presentation skills and network with NIMH colleagues and the Fellows Invited Lecture Series (FILS) which provides an opportunity for NIMH IRP trainees to identify, invite and host a speaker.FILS speakers have included Ian Gotlib, Holly Wilcox, Olga Acosta Price and Surya Ganguli.The OFT organized the 2020/2021 IRP Investigator Seminar Series, designed to familiarize IRP fellows and faculty with their colleagues' research and the NIMH IRP Women Scientist Discussion Series. In FY21 the Women Scientist Discussion Series included a virtual ERP/IRP panel discussion on Intersectionality, Allyship and Microaggressions:A panel discussion of the movie Picture a Scientist that was attended by over 100 program staff, faculty, scientific staff and trainees, and an IRP workshop on Combatting micro-aggressions to foster inclusivity led by Dr. Milgram.The OFT offered a portfolio of training specifically for Postbac trainees including a Statistics Course, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Application Workshop, an Interview Skills Workshop, a Clinical Psychology PhD Program Application Workshop, a Mental Health Careers Panel discussion and an MD Program Application Workshop (organized with the NIMH Office of the Clinical Director). Training OFT organized the IRP Grantsmanship Workshop in conjunction with Grant Writing Mentors, LLC.Training was provided in three phases, gradually transitioning from didactic introductory material (Phase I) to an intensive grant-writing experience in the form of an individualized tutorial (Phase III).In FY21 Phase I provided training in Grantsmanship to 70 trainees from NIMH, and 5 other institutes.Fourteen fellows from 3 ICs participated in Phase II, and 11 trainees participated in Phase III.This year, NIMH Trainees submitted grant proposals for K99, K22, Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Grant and private funding including National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). The OFT offered a seminar for Postdocs on career award mechanisms (K-Awards), a seminar on PRAT Program application given by the PRAT Program Staff, and a seminar on NSF funding mechanisms.To satisfy the NIH mandate to provide all NIH IRP scientific staff with training in Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), the OFT held 11 Ethics for Lunch discussions on Data Access, Analysis and Reporting within a Research Group from November 2020 through May 2021.Four hundred and twenty-five NIMH IRP Scientific staff satisfied their research ethics training requirement. The OFT Director delivered 2 RCR training sessions for Postbac and Predoc IRTAs across NIH in late 2020 and early 2021.In FY21 the OFT organized a series of Science Communication Seminars and Workshops that focused on topics including the Three Minute Talk (TmT).The TmT training will culminate in a final competition to be held at the Training Day. Twenty-eight trainees participated in the TmT training, and received two individualized coaching sessions and entered an NIMH IRP competition, 15 finalists will compete at the Training Day. Negotiation Skills, Interview Skills for Postdocs, and Chalk Talk Workshops were offered in FY21. OFT Administered Programs In FY21, the OFT administered and directed the University College London-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience.Twenty-two applications were received for the program, 7 applicants were interviewed, 3 offers were made, with 1 acceptance.In FY21, the OFT administered and directed the NIH-Karolinska Institutet (NIH-KI) Program for Graduate Training in the Neurosciences.For the NIH-KI Program recruiting efforts, 15 applications were considered, 5 applicants were interviewed, 4 offers were made and 3 accepted.The OFT participated in the selection of 2021 Outstanding Resident Award Program (ORAP) recipients and will provide support for a virtual ORAP meeting to be held in October 2021. OFT Recruitment of Trainees The OFT Team participated in trainee recruiting efforts through the NIH OITE Graduate Program Fair and at annual meetings for the Society of Neuroscience and ABRCMS.In FY21 the OFT developed a plan to reach out to HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions, and Neuroscience departments and programs across the country to hold virtual information sessions to share research opportunities that are available at NIMH/NIH.Recruiting sessions will begin in October 2021. COVID 19 Effects on OFT Training Program in FY21 Due to the pandemic, all OFT-sponsored trainings and orientations were adapted for virtual delivery as of April 2020 and have continued to be virtual through FY21.OFT has continued to provide monthly Trainee Check In and Update sessions to provide a safe place for NIMH Trainees to share what is on their minds.Both the NIH Take Your Child to Work Day and the NIH Summer Internship Program, cancelled in FY20, were offered in a virtual format in FY21.The OFT provided NIMH sessions to the NIH OITE Summer at Home Series.In addition, NIMH Summer Interns participated in RCR training, Summer journal club, Summer Meet and Greet and the OITE Summer Poster Presentation Week.The 12th Annual Julius Axelrod Symposium, postponed in FY20, was held in April 2021 to honor Huda Akil and Morgan Sheng, SfN Axelrod Prize recipients in 2019 and 2020, respectively.In FY20 the NIMH, NINDS, NIDCD, NIDCR, NCATS, NIGMS and NEI established a new NIH award program, Outstanding Scholars in Neuroscience Program (OSNAP), to recognize exceptional young scientists doing neuroscience research. The first OSNAP Award Symposium was held virtually in FY21 to recognize 2020 OSNAP awardees.The NIH solicited for nominations for the second cohort of OSNAP awardees in Spring 2021, and received 121 nominations.Thirty-three nominees were selected to receive the honor to be recognized with a visit to the NIH campus, and an opportunity to present their science meet with institute faculty, staff, trainees, leadership and program staff.