Twenty-Five Research Proposals Accepted for Funding by the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium
The New and Emerging Children’s Mental Health Research initiative will fund 25 research proposals to improve child and adolescent mental health prevention and treatment services and encourage junior researchers in Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas – July 16, 2024 – Twenty-five research proposals focused on improving children’s mental health in Texas and encouraging the development of junior researchers have been awarded more than $8.3 million in funding through the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC). These grants are part of the New and Emerging Children’s Mental Health Research (NECMHR) initiative. The awardees, their areas of focus, and funding levels are listed below.
“We are incredibly excited about each of these research projects and the potential impacts they will have on improving our state’s mental health system,” said Dr. David Lakey, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer with The University of Texas System. “We are grateful for the funding from the state legislature and the ability to provide this opportunity to junior researchers just starting their scientific careers in the state of Texas.
Forty-seven proposals from 11 of the TCMHCC participating health-related institutions across Texas were received. Each application was subject to intense individual and group reviews by 13 reviewers, including out-of-state scientific reviewers and three Texas-based experts in the Texas mental health system. Awardees will begin work on their two-year projects on September 1, 2024.
“We worked diligently to ensure the process mirrored that of the best grant programs in Texas and that these proposals align with the needs of the state as identified by our Texas mental health agencies in terms of improving children’s mental health systems and services,” said Lakey.
Prioritization was given to applicants who have never been a NIH R-01 grant principal investigator and are at the rank of associate professor or below.
| Awardee | Area of Focus | Amount Awarded | Institution | Type of Grant |
| Leslie Allsopp, PhD, MSN, MPH, AE-C | Integrated Behavior Health in Schools – Asthma | $414,784.60 | UNTHSC | Research Project |
| Jorge Almeida, MD, PhD | Value Based Care for Bipolar Youth & Their Families | $300,000.00 | UT Austin | Research Project |
| Justin Benzer, PhD | Suicide Prevention Through TCHATT | $497,056.70 | UT Austin | Research Project |
| Karrie Curry, MS, PhD, CHES | Association Between Social Media and Mental Health | $499,481.90 | UNTHSC | Research Project |
| Claire Kirk, PhD | Web-Based Parent Coaching App – Bridge Gap for Youth Behavioral Health | $499,841.60 | UTMB | Research Project |
| Tarrah Mitchell, PhD | Caregivers as a Source of Resilience – Youth Diagnosed with Cancer | $273,958.80 | TTUHSC Lubbock | Research Project |
| Benson Mwangi Irungu, PhD | AI – Suicide and Bipolar Disorders | $252,411.00 | UTHSCH | Research Project |
| Kiley Schneider, PsyD | BE-HAPPY – Tiered Approach to Increased Access to Behavioral Health Care | $375,944.90 | UTTHSC | Research Project |
| Trent Seltzer, PhD | Strategies to Recruit & Retain Child Mental Health Providers | $359,424.80 | TTUHSC Lubbock | Research Project |
| Youngran Kim, PhD | Evaluating the YES Program | $499,570.30 | UTHSCH | Research Project |
| Andres Viana, PhD, ABPP | Prenatal Anxiety and Alcohol Consumption | $496,256.80 | Texas A&M | Research Project |
| Rocksheng Zhong, MD, MHS | Youth Mental Health in Juvenile Justice | $499,999.30 | UTMB | Research Project |
| Kristine Glass, MD | Caring for Caregivers in Rural & Border Areas | $290,531.90 | TTUHSC El Paso | Research Career Development |
| Joseph Guillory, MD | Community-based Peer-Delivery Recovery Education | $300,000.00 | UTSW | Research Career Development |
| Seema Jacob, PsyD, IMH-E | Supporting Parenting for Young Children with Common Mental Health Diagnosis | $300,000.00 | UTHSCH | Research Career Development |
| Erin Logue, PhD | Neurocognitive Function in Trauma Exposed Adolescents | $299,999.30 | UT Austin | Research Career Development |
| Tetiana Nickelsen, PhD | Pathways to Care in Traumatized Texas Youth | $299,886.10 | Texas A&M | Research Career Development |
| Ogechi Onyeka, PhD | Youth Cross-Age Peer Mentoring | $284,136.30 | BCM | Research Career Development |
| Sean O’Sullivan, MD, PhD | Truncated Version of SAINT to Treat Adolescent Depression | $299,996.70 | UT Austin | Research Career Development |
| Angela Preston, PhD, RN, CNE | Integrate Psychological & Environmental Resources in Mental Health Intervention | $284,518.40 | UTTHSC | Research Career Development |
| Erin Richardson, APRN, PMHNP | Cognitive Processing Therapy for Perinatal PTSD | $289,122.00 | UT Austin | Research Career Development |
| Jessica Sandoval, MD | Clinical Interpretation SVC Quality and Mental Health Family Satisfaction | $300,000.00 | UTHSCSA | Research Career Development |
| Nabila Haque, MD, PhD | Barriers to Implementing WET for Perinatal PTSD | $149,974.00 | UTSW | Postdoctoral Fellowships & Training |
| Caitlyn Mytelka, PhD, LMSW | Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study of Adolescent Coping | $150,000.00 | UTHSCH | Postdoctoral Fellowships & Training |
| Erika Trent, MA, LPA | Parental Emotional Socialization Impact on Child Anxiety | $149,993.30 | BCM | Postdoctoral Fellowships & Training |
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ABOUT NECMHR
The New and Emerging Children’s Mental Health Research (NECMHR) initiative is designed to foster, encourage, and mentor junior researchers and trainees at TCMHCC institutions so that they can become successful mental health researchers. Furthermore, the research funded by NECMHR will identify and validate new knowledge, tools, and practices that will improve child and adolescent mental health prevention and treatment services in Texas.
This initiative focuses on advancing the knowledge and evidence base in the prevention and treatment of childhood mental illness. Once promising and evidence-informed practices are identified, findings will be disseminated to inform providers, policy makers, advocates, and families about specific types of treatment approaches that can minimize the symptoms of childhood mental illness, promote recovery, and help all Texas children thrive.