The ICHAD/SMART Africa training programs consist of three NIH-funded training grants–LEAD Global Training Program (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala and Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg), Researcher Resilience Training (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala, Dean Mary McKay, and Dr. Sean Joe), and CHILD-Global Research Fellows (Co-Directors: Dr. Fred Ssewamala, Dean Mary McKay, and Dr. Noeline Nakasujja). The programs support early career researchers in domestic and global mental health, health disparities, and HIV/AIDS in the US and Sub Saharan Africa to become independent researchers and leaders of multidisciplinary teams in resource-limited settings.
Throughout July, a multi-disciplinary lineup of experts from Washington University and several partner institutions presented a wide range of research and career topics to the ICHAD/SMART Africa trainees. Twenty-five trainees engaged via Zoom in learning and discussion on established and emerging themes for early research professionals, including:
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Global mental health with Dr. Parul Bakhshi, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy and Dr. Clement Bayetti, Instructor, Brown School
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Psychology of mindset and resilience with Dr. Tim Bono, Assistant Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
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Agent-based modeling with Dr. Ross Hammond, Associate Professor, Brown School
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Implementation strategies with Dr. Byron Powell, Assistant Professor, Brown School
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Categorical data methods and logistic regression with Dr. Jacob Borodovsky, Postdoc, Psychiatry
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Cost-effectiveness analysis with Dr. Yesim Tozan of NYU School of Global Public Health
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Propensity score analysis with Dr. Shenyang Guo, Professor, Brown School
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Utilization & dissemination of results with Nikole Lobb Doughtery, Associate Director, Evaluation Center, Brown School
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Evaluation planning with Nancy Mueller, Director, Evaluation Center at the Brown School
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Qualitative research methods, Dr. Janet Nakigudde, Behavioural Scientist and Lecturer, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University
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Administrative data management and analysis with Dr. Brett Drake, Professor, Brown School
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Community based system dynamics with Ellis Ballard, Director, Social System Design Lab, Brown School
Trainees also met regularly with their mentors to develop and refine their research projects. In addition, they engaged in weekly career discussions that examined themes including discrimination and resilience among people of color in research, and balancing early career with other facets of life. Following this month of robust discussion and training plus mentored research work, trainees will be wrapping up their intensive summer curriculum in early August with final presentations.
Left: Dr. Sean Joe, Co-Director of Researcher Resilience Training, presents “More than Spoken Words: Race and Racism and the Implications for Scientific Methods and Researcher Resiliency”; Right: NIH Program Officers Holly Campbell-Rosen and Susannah Allison present on “HIV and Global Mental Health Priorities & Funding Opportunities & Guidance”
Please join us in welcoming our first cohort of CHILD-Global Research Fellows who started their three-year fellowship program last month. They were selected from a competitive pool of nearly 40 applicants interested in research involving the intersection of HIV and mental health amongst child and adolescent populations. We look forward to working with them over the next three years!
