# The Career Development Institute for Psychiatry

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $214,607

## Abstract

Project Summary (Abstract)
For over two decades, the combination of a declining number of clinical scientists who
pursue careers in mental health and a high rate of attrition among those who enter the
field has threatened our nation’s ability to leverage advances in biomedical and
behavioral sciences into improvements in public health. The goal of this R25 renewal
application for the Career Development Institute for Psychiatry (CDI) is to continue a
program that provides the necessary skills, support, and mentoring network to a
nationally selected, diverse group of promising early-career mental health scientists to
help them launch and maintain successful research careers. Our results to date indicate
that fellows are very satisfied with the program, have experienced improvement in career
skills, and have successfully proceeded in academic careers.
The program is geared toward scientists at the critical transition point between the
completion of research training and the initial years of faculty appointment. The CDI
provides the necessary skills and mentoring in a multi-tiered longitudinal program, with
a focus on the developmental needs of early-career mental health scientists, including
practical career skills; long-term, multilevel mentoring; support for facing personal and
professional challenges; membership in a professional community; and a collaborative,
multi-disciplinary approach to science. Targeted career skills include negotiation;
research ethics; leadership; promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion; scientific
project management; science communication; and computational approaches.
Improvements for this iteration include more interactive formats, enhanced mentoring,
targeted webinars, and emphasis on leadership and programmatic planning. The
program encompasses four phases for each annual class of 18-22 fellows: (1) self-
assessment and goal setting; (2) 4-day in-person workshop; (3) 2 years of mentoring,
training webinars, and community building; and (4) annual career and program
evaluations. The program directors, advisory board, and website provide a thorough,
centralized foundation for the program. CDI alumni from across the country serve as
faculty. The proposed longitudinal program will increase the number of scientists
committed to research careers in mental health and provide a foundation for improved
progress toward preventing and treating mental illness.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10810813
- **Project number:** 5R25MH090947-13
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Erika E Forbes
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $214,607
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2011-07-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10810813

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10810813, The Career Development Institute for Psychiatry (5R25MH090947-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10810813. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*