Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences NIMH funded T32 Mental Health, Earlier Postdoctoral Fellowship

Northwestern University’s NIMH Mental Health, Earlier Postdoctoral Fellowship (NU-MHE T32), housed under the Institute of Developmental Science (DevSci) and funded through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), provides training through a novel transdisciplinary approach designed to launch the next generation of neurodevelopmentally-oriented mental health researchers poised to accelerate the pace of clinical translation. MHE is specifically designed to bring together personally- and disciplinarily- diverse trainees (including both PhD and MD scholars) and mentors as a paradigm for advancing cutting-edge translational mental health research. 

The foundational core of NU-MHE’s training is the characterization of neurodevelopmental mechanisms of psychopathology within lifespan and environmental contexts.

This neurodevelopmental emphasis will be complemented with training across three intersecting [thematic] spheres:

(1) Applied computational and other advanced data science methods

(2) Intervention and prevention/implementation research and strategies

(3) The intersection of mental and pediatric health

Along with their core training in neurodevelopmental mechanisms of psychopathology, each fellow will select one of these spheres as an area of concentration for more in-depth training. Fellows will select a mentoring team composed of (1) a co-mentor with expertise in the neurodevelopmental and/or environmental mechanisms of psychopathology; and (2) a co-mentor with expertise in at least one of the three intersecting thematic areas. 

NU-MHE T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship is the first at Northwestern and Nationally to focus on training in neurodevelopmental clinical science and integrate the three thematic spheres. 

The Fellowship Training will be structured to emphasize a unique set of developed Core Competencies through both shared NU-MHE T32 Training experiences (i.e. – Bootcamps, Seminars, etc.) and Individual Career Advancement Plans (ICAP), created with each mentoring team, to develop fellows an independent lead researcher of the future. Learn more about the Core Competencies and Training Mechanisms.