Howard Waitzkin, University of New Mexico professor of sociology and member of the UNM Institute for Social Research, has received a $1.25 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The five-year grant will support the UNM-based New Mexico Mentorship and Education Program, focused on minority mental health issues in primary care settings.
First Choice Community Healthcare (a local network of community health centers), the UNM Department of Psychiatry and UNM Department of Family and Community Medicine are collaborators.
The program, unique to the Southwest, was first funded in a pilot phase by the NIMH in 1999. It includes an intensive, one-week annual training institute to introduce mental health services research to minority junior faculty and graduate students from Southwest institutions.
The program is also designed to build ongoing mentorship relationships between faculty or graduate student participants and nationally recognized mental health services researchers.
“Minority junior faculty requested we create the mentorship program. They will eventually take it over; meanwhile, we have mentors from around the nation,” Waitzkin said.
In addition, primary care practitioners from local community health centers will be paired with researchers and mentors who focus on mental health services in minority populations.
Mentored participants will obtain training to help compete for research support and manage funded proposals; acquire skills in research methods; learn about recent research on mental health services with a special emphasis on disparities in mental health outcomes for minority populations; establish networks with outstanding research mentors; and receive guidance in undertaking research with Southwest populations.
The university has received nearly 72.6 million in NIH funding for the 2005 fiscal year.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5920
Posted by scarr at October 12, 2005 04:22 PM