The mentorship committee’s charge is to foster interest and enthusiasm for studying and conducting research in biological psychiatry in future generations. This past year, we have continued to provide mentorship to SOBP travel awardees in a number of groups including residents, graduate students, and junior faculty. We have also continued to provide mentorship for APA Research Colloquium participants and residency program directors.
Once again, we had a very impressive showing by our membership in their commitment to mentoring at the Annual Meeting and beyond. A record 138 members volunteered to be a mentor at the Annual Meeting in San Diego, resulting in 118 mentor-mentee matches. Our mentees consistently tell us what a valuable experience this is, and that they gain many valuable insights from these interactions. Our hope is that these pairings will lead to long term mentoring relationships that extend beyond the Annual Meeting itself, and even develop into scientific collaborations. Our mentorship of junior investigators has been extremely successful. At the same time, we recognize that there is an unmet need for continuing peer mentorship for members of the Society at all career levels. To this end, we will be working with Council, the Membership Committee, and other Society members to develop new and innovative programming targeted towards peer mentorship and collaboration. We would welcome any and all ideas you may have!
If you are interested in becoming a SOBP Mentor, please email sobp@sobp.org or look for the mentor request in next year’s Annual Meeting survey. In closing, we would like to thank all of you who play a mentorship role within the Society and beyond. We need our future generations of scientists to carry the torch in elucidating the complex underpinnings of mental illness and improving the lives of those afflicted.
Ryan Herringa, MD, PhD
Mentorship Committee Chair
Elisabetta C. del Re, PhD
Mentorship Committee Co-Chair