# Mentoring Network for Global Mental Health Research on Social Drivers Of Mental Illnesses across the Lifespan (gmhCONNECT)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $215,993

## Abstract

The NIMH 2020 Strategic Plan identifies Global Mental Health as a cross-cutting research theme integral to the
institute’s goals. Within global mental health, there is growing recognition of the gaps in understanding how to
intervene on social drivers to substantially reduce the global burden of disease attributable to mental illnesses.
This R25 application proposes a research education program on social driver interventions in global mental
health. The program, Global Mental Health Research on SoCial Drivers Of MeNtal IllNessEs aCross The
Lifespan (gmhCONNECT), is based at the University of Illinois at Chicago and George Washington University
with a large U.S. and international faculty of senior global mental health researchers. The mentorship network
also includes the people living with mental illness from the Global Mental Health Peer Network. Mentees will also
engage with practitioners from the WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, and major humanitarian organizations. In keeping
with the requirements of PAR-20-080, this program targets graduate and health professional students, medical
residents, postdoctoral trainees, and early-career faculty who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents who
are planning to submit or currently funded through NRSAs, K awards, Fogarty Fellowships, or project grant.
Building a career in global mental health research involves mastering complex challenges including working with:
the legacies of colonialism, power differentials, local culture, agencies and officials, international and local NGOs,
and non-specialist and peer providers. The purpose of this program is to facilitate their success as independent
researchers and members of the research community in global mental health. Our program highlights
intervention research concerning how social drivers impact mental illness, prevention, and care for populations
in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and other low-resource settings. The specific aims are: Aim 1:
Provide training, primarily through a Summer Institute, which advances the trainees’ research knowledge and
skills on the ways in which social drivers impact mental illness, prevention, and care and how social drivers and
their impact can be addressed through interventions; Aim 2: Provide one-year of focused intensive mentorship
(dyadic and triadic) from a US and LMIC pool of multidisciplinary and diverse GMH experts to support the
mentees’ research interests and career trajectories. Aim 3: Provide a range of synergistic guided learning
opportunities including group mentorship, structured peer mentorship, and engagements with people living with
mental illness and practitioners at implementing organizations, which will enable trainees to form their unique
mentoring networks; Aim 4: Evaluate the impact of gmhCONNECT on the mentee’s networks, knowledge and
productivity, with an emphasis on equity and collaboration when evaluating productivity metrics. Successful
implementation of these aims will provide promising early-...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10819532
- **Project number:** 5R25MH125771-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Brandon Alan Kohrt
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $215,993
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10819532

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10819532, Mentoring Network for Global Mental Health Research on Social Drivers Of Mental Illnesses across the Lifespan (gmhCONNECT) (5R25MH125771-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10819532. Licensed CC0.

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