Summer Training Program in Integrative Methods for Mental and Physical Health

The goal of this R25 proposal is to continue and expand our state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary training program to enhance the methodological skills of early-career scientists conducting integrative health research. Health and health inequities are a function of social, behavioral, biological, and environmental factors. However, scientific training on these various factors is often siloed across disciplines and professions (e.g., clinical vs. social/behavioral sciences). This lack of integration results in inefficiencies in the growth of scientific knowledge, limits cross-pollination in interdisciplinary teams, and fosters a piecemeal approach to clinical care and health services that fails to meet the needs of individuals with complex health conditions, particularly those from disadvantaged or minority communities. In 2020, with support from NCCIH/OBSSR, we launched the first NIH-funded training program focused on building methodological expertise in integrative health, with a focus on minority health and health inequities. The proposed continuation of the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequalities (MIWI) Training Program will develop the research skills of multidisciplinary cohorts of early-career scientists on the intersections between social, behavioral, biological, and environmental aspects of health, with attention to how these intersections contribute to minority health and health disparities. MIWI uses case-based, applied learning to help trainees explicitly link theoretical models that inform empirical research to the study designs and analytic tools appropriate for addressing novel questions about health and health inequities in an integrative manner. MIWI is a hybrid training program, consisting of a 3-day residential summer institute which is paired with 9-months of ongoing virtual mentoring and networking building with senior scholars and peer alumni, and additional didactic training via webinars. Trainees propose and workshop a research project over this period, where they directly apply the knowledge and skills they gain through the program. MIWI is designed to attract three types of trainees: (i) Behavioral/social scientists who are interested in learning how to incorporate and analyze biomedical measures; (ii) Clinical/health services researchers interested in assessing psychosocial and environmental aspects of health; and (iii) Minority health researchers who want to employ a more comprehensive approach in their work. The continued success of MIWI will be evaluated by assessing trainee skills development, research performance, and sustainable capacity building. The MIWI Leadership Core (Mezuk, Gonzalez, Taylor, and Hudson) has an established track record of training junior investigators, particularly under-represented minority scientists, through their leadership of several Center-based education programs. MIWI will apply the lessons-learned from our decades of training experience, our strong Institutional Resource Partners, our established national network of Senior Mentors, and our growing network of Peer Alumni Mentors, in a focused program centered on building the scientific skills necessary to expand the field of interdisciplinary, integrative health science.