In the first year of TREE Center funding, the Investigator Development Core (IDC) created and implemented a mini-pilot project program that awarded grants to under-represented junior faculty and postdoctoral scholars to conduct mental and behavioral health disparities research. Three Year 1, mini-pilot project awards went to Dr. Thomas Chávez (Assistant Professor, Counselor Education, tachavez00@unm.edu ) and community partner, the NM Dream Team, to study mental health among Latino immigrant families; Dr. Jaelyn deMaria (Assistant Professor, Communication & Journalism-Mass Communication, jdemaria@unm.edu ), and community partner Generation Justice, to study media communication about mental health; and Dr. Shiv Desai ( Assistant Professor: Elementary and Secondary Education, sdesai@unm.edu ), and community partner the Albuquerque Public Schools, to study the use of ethnic studies to heal student trauma. All of these studies use a social determinants of health framework and include work to address organizational, systems, and societal factors influencing mental and behavioral health outcomes. Due to the timing of the U54 NIMHD grant award, the funding period for the mini-grants was short, but all three projects are underway. The PIs will present their findings and plans for future research at TREE Center meetings in late summer, or early fall. As one of 12 National Centers of Excellence, the TREE Center and IDC are looking forward to working with these scholars as they pursue their research careers in mental and behavioral health intervention research. Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, Director of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities emphasizes our role in finding solutions with diverse communities in New Mexico - “We need strong collaborations and research based upon asking the right questions in specific areas. The Centers of Excellence are poised to emphasize scientific inquiry that will promote health equity.”

 

For further information, contact the IDC co-Directors: Theresa H Cruz, PhD, thcruz@salud.unm.edu or Matthew Borrego, PhD, MBorrego@salud.unm.edu