# Sustainable Academic Capacity Building of Excellence through Research and Training Program (SACERT)

> **NIH NIH D43** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2023 · $249,628

## Abstract

Project Summary
In response to PAR-18-901, we propose the Sustainable Academic Capacity Building for Excellence through
Research and Training (SACERT) Program. Under the leadership of two US- and two South Africa-based
highly experienced Principal Investigators, SACERT goals are to increase timely progression to completion of
doctoral degree primarily among underrepresented pre-doctoral students, and to improve the educational and
mentoring climates of 12 participating institutions in South Africa. The focus of SACERT is chronic stress and
non-communicable chronic mental disorders including substance abuse, depression, and posttraumatic stress
disorder across the life course. SACERT responds directly to current national governmental initiatives to train
pre-doctoral students who are at the dissertation stage in the mental health field. We focus particularly on
building capacity of scholars in the nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychology, psychiatry, and
public health fields to conduct translational mental health-related research via two pathways, Tracks A and B.
We will provide short-, medium-, and long-term research training which includes coursework and research
training in an intensive 3-month in-residence training at UCLA and a long-term mentorship (Track A), as well as
annual workshops in South Africa (Track B). The Specific Aims are to: 1) Implement a two-year
multidisciplinary training program at UCLA and in South Africa for four pre-doctoral Scholars (“Track A,” who
will be post-master’s degree, with approved dissertation proposals) per year (cumulative n=16) to: a) enhance
their research skills in the areas of chronic stress and non-communicable chronic mental health disorders, b)
support their research productivity during the two-year tenure, and c) strengthen their relationships with
mentors; 2) Implement a training model involving annual virtual and/or in-person modular workshops for the
Aim 1 Scholars (n=4/year) and mentors (n=4/year) and additional Scholars who will be master’s and pre-
doctoral students (“Track B”; n=36/year for four years; cumulative n=144) and faculty (n=36/year), primarily
from historically disadvantaged universities, to: a) strengthen research and mentoring skills related to chronic
stress and non-communicable chronic mental health disorders, b) build and sustain a supportive network of
Scholars and mentors across primarily historically disadvantaged universities, and c) disseminate the results of
Scholars’ and mentors’ research related to chronic stress and non-communicable chronic mental health
disorders; 3) Provide mentorship training to Scholars’ mentors (n~16/year) to: a) enrich the mentor-scholar
dyad, b) increase capacity in South African university environments, and c) promote sustainability of our
research mentorship model; and 4) Evaluate these training and mentorship efforts with regard to: a) time to
degree, productivity related to publications and grant proposals; sustainability of tr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10669757
- **Project number:** 5D43TW012029-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Sharon Rose Kleintjes
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $249,628
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10669757

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10669757, Sustainable Academic Capacity Building of Excellence through Research and Training Program (SACERT) (5D43TW012029-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10669757. Licensed CC0.

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