Amplifying Voices and Building Bridges: Toward a More Inclusive Future—Agenda

75th Anniversary

March 18, 2024

This event explores the intersection of NIMH and society through the lens of inclusion. The symposium aims to bring together researchers, those living with mental illness, clinicians, and communities to reflect on challenges that prevent us from engaging people in mental health research in meaningful and equitable ways. It will examine inclusion in research, disparities in health and access to care, and diversity in the mental health workforce.

Welcome and Keynote Address
Time	Session	Presenter(s)
8:30–9:30 a.m.	Opening Remarks	Monica Bertagnolli, M.D. Director, National Institutes of Health Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. Director National Institute of Mental Health
	Keynote Address Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice in Mental Health Research: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future	Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H. Associate Dean of Diverse and Inclusive Education Director of Cultural Psychiatry Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry University of California, Davis
Session 1: Engaging Partner Perspectives in Research Moderator: Patricia A. Areán, Ph.D. Director, Division of Services and Intervention Research National Institute of Mental Health
9:30–11:00 a.m.	Listening to the Voices and Responding: The Jemmott Community Engagement Model for Improving Inclusion and Health Outcomes	Loretta Sweet Jemmott, Ph.D., M.S.N., R.N., FAAN Vice President, Health and Health Equity Professor, College of Nursing and Health Professions Drexel University
	Amplifying the Voice of Constituents in efforts to Transform Behavioral Healthcare Delivery	Rinad Beidas, Ph.D. Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor Chair, Department of Medical Social Sciences Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
	Leveraging Lived Experience in Mental Health Research	Carlos Laurrari, M.S.N. Zuckerman Fellow at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership The University of Michigan Law School \| Harvard Kennedy School
	Moderated Discussion
11:00–11:30 a.m.	Break
Session 2: Inclusion in Access to Care/Health Disparities Moderator: Christina P.C. Borba, Ph.D., M.P.H. Director, Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity National Institute of Mental Health
11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.	Increasing Mental Health Equity through Transformative and Transdisciplinary Research and Interventions: Centering the Participation, Experiences, Strengths, and Values of People Experiencing Health Disparities and Structural Inequities	Jessica Goodkind, Ph.D. Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Sociology Co-Director, School of Medicine DEI UME Curricular Development University of New Mexico
	The Potential for Person-Centered Policy- and Community-Level Interventions to Achieve Equity in Mental Health Treatment	Benjamin Le Cook, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research and Health Equity Research Lab Cambridge Health Alliance Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School
	Leveraging Community Partnered Engagement to Address Depression Disparities	Sidney Hankerson, M.D., M.B.A. Associate Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry Director, Mental Health Equity Research, Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
	Moderated Discussion
1:00–2:00 p.m.	Lunch
Session 3: Cultivating Inclusion in the Mental Health Research Workforce Moderator: Janet Clark, Ph.D. Director for Fellowship Training Intramural Research Program National Institute of Mental Health
2:00–3:30 p.m.	How to navigate and eliminate the barriers that keep us from entering or advancing.	Gina Poe, Ph.D. Eleanor Leslie Professor of Innovative Brain Research Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences Department of Neurobiology University of California, Los Angeles
	Inclusive Pathways: Navigating Challenges and Cultivating Diversity in Psychiatric Research	Cynthia Rogers, M.D. Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Vice Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Washington University School of Medicine Psychiatrist-in-Chief St. Louis Children’s Hospital
	Empowering Early Career Researchers in Academic Training Environments	Fátima Sancheznieto, Ph.D. Associate Researcher, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research University of Winsconsin – Madison
	Towards Inclusion: A health equity scientist’s journey in a biomedical research enriched psychiatry department	Cesar Escobar-Viera, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral and Community Health Sciences University of Pittsburgh
	Moderated Discussion
Keynote Address and Closing
3:30–4:15 p.m.	NIMH at 75: A Black Psychiatrist’s Perspective on Inclusion Then, Now and in the Future	Altha Stewart, M.D. Senior Associate Dean for Community Health Engagement Director, Public and Community Psychiatry Director, Center for Youth Advocacy and Well-Being The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
4:15–4:20 p.m.	Closing Remarks	Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. Director National Institute of Mental Health

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Amplifying Voices and Building Bridges: Toward a More Inclusive Future—Agenda

Welcome and Keynote Address

Session 1: Engaging Partner Perspectives in Research

Session 2: Inclusion in Access to Care/Health Disparities

Session 3: Cultivating Inclusion in the Mental Health Research Workforce

Keynote Address and Closing

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