The Health Resources & Services Administration is seeking partners to support the creation of a transdisciplinary, multisite research networks that will advance research in the field of adolescent health.
The Network must include researchers who study adolescence and young adulthood from a range of disciplines, including developmental neuroscience, behavioral and social sciences, and the medical and/or allied health fields, reflecting attention to the health and development of the whole person.
The Network will have the following goals:
1. Develop a national research agenda that strives to: Accelerate the translation into practice of new and emerging research findings from developmental neuroscience and other relevant fields, such as the science of puberty, prevention, and mental health.
2. Encourage the translation of research into a variety of practice and service settings, such as primary and mental health care providers, public health and other health officials, school health clinics and programs, and other key stakeholders concerned with the health and optimal development of adolescents and young adults.
3. Improve access to and quality of adolescent preventive health, including well-visits and the integration of behavioral health into primary care settings.
4. Promote health across one of life’s major developmental transitions, beginning with the preadolescent years and continuing into young adulthood.
5. Address a variety of adolescent populations in the U.S., including medically underserved populations.
6. Promote multisite, transdisciplinary scientific collaboration that will: Encourage innovative research, including the development of early adolescent developmental screening instruments that can be used to predict late adolescent and early adult outcomes.
7. Develop and recruit a network of practices that can implement research studies. Disseminate information on its activities and findings in order to inform researchers, practitioners, policy makers, the public, and other stakeholders, including young people and their families.
8.) Leverage network capacity to compete for grant opportunities from other Federal and private sources.
9.) Develop additional research capacity in the field of adolescent health by fostering research and mentorship opportunities for new investigators through active communication, networking, and collaboration.