# Brown School Training Program in Mental Health Services Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $443,580

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This renewal application requests funding for the Brown School’s Training Program in Mental Health Services
Research at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U). Our program will prepare 2 pre- and 2 post-doctoral
trainees per year to acquire advanced mental health services research skills to address challenges faced by
the most vulnerable populations in our nation. Specifically, persons living with mental disorders who seek care
at the intersection of multiple services sectors, experience high needs for care, and are the least likely to
secure needed services or to obtain high quality care. Our training program includes five knowledge domains:
mental health services research, research with vulnerable populations, intervention research, implementation
science, and advanced research methods (e.g., systems science, mixed methods). A team of 30 highly
talented mentors led by Dr. Leopoldo J. Cabassa, Associate Professor at the Brown School, supports our
training program. Our faculty are drawn from 4 Schools and 6 Departments across Wash U. They have a
distinguished record of accomplishment in mentoring and active NIH-funded research in the critical knowledge
domains of our program. An exceptional transdisciplinary training environment including 17 research centers at
the Brown School, the Institute of Public Health, and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
supports our program.
Building on our 25-year history of successfully training mental health services researchers, our program
continues to innovate with the following enhancements. We strengthened our methodological training by
adding new courses and faculty mentors conducting cutting-edge research in systems science, health
disparities research, implementation science, and advanced data analytics. We added a Steering Committee
(SC) composed of leaders in health and mental health services research from inside and outside Wash U and
new training opportunities for our faculty to enhance their mentoring skills. We enhanced trainees’ scientific
networking by requiring a learning site visit to existing NIMH-funded mental health services studies across the
U.S. We added workshops to improve trainees’ science communication skills to better disseminate their work
to a broader audience. The overall mission of our program is for our trainees to acquire mental health services
research knowledge and skills to meet the most pressing needs in the field of social work and to advance the
public health significance and impact of NIMH-services research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9934601
- **Project number:** 2T32MH019960-26
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Leopoldo J Cabassa
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $443,580
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1995-08-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9934601

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9934601, Brown School Training Program in Mental Health Services Research (2T32MH019960-26). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9934601. Licensed CC0.

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