Building mental health resilience at Research, Education & Innovation Week 2023

Mindful Mentors

With a focus on highlighting child and adolescent mental health, Research, Education & Innovation (R.E.I.) Week 2023 took place at Children’s National in April. The event, in its 13th iteration this year, showcases the wide array of research and education programs occurring throughout the institution and at our academic partners.

Faculty, trainees and staff submitted and present 366 abstracts and posters, an 18 percent increase from last year’s event. Poster sessions were held over three days, providing an opportunity for everyone to talk with the researchers and innovators to learn more about the wide range of scholarly work being conducted at Children’s National.

The week also featured 9 keynote lectures, 2 panels and a company spotlight session, all centered around the “Mental Health: Building Resilience” theme. The keynote lecture speakers included: Tami Benton, M.D., John N. Constantino, M.D., Deborah Gross, D.N.Sc., R.N., F.A.A.N., David A. Jobes, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., Tom Osborn, Christopher J. Recklitis, Ph.D., M.P.H., Manpreet K. Singh, M.D., M.S, Stuart Slavin, M.D., M.Ed., Sharon Landesman Ramey, Ph.D., and Craig Ramey, Ph.D., who spoke on topics ranging from raising young children to brain development and children’s well-being.

The exciting panels of the week discussed artificial intelligence and the realities of adolescent mental health, and featured Adelaide S. Robb, M.D., Tshaka Cunningham, Ph.D., Anne Naclerio, M.D., M.P.H., Rick Herrera, Ph.D., Anisha Abraham, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., Jean Fletcher, C.P.N.P., P.M.H.S., Sivabalaji Kaliamurthy, M.D., Phyllis L. Fagell, L.C.P.C.

The spotlight was on innovation when startup companies like Polaris Genomics and Rose Health were represented by Charles Cathlin, M.P.H., Tshaka Cunningham, Ph.D., and Kavi Misri, Ph.D. in the spotlight session organized by our partners JLABS @ Washington, DC.

As with every research endeavor at Children’s, collaboration was a key aspect of REI Week. In addition to educational workshops and mindfulness exercises, a special Read, Question and Think Story Hour with Nikki Posnack, M.D. was broadcast from Seacrest Studios. Dr. Posnack and her team engaged with kids sharing their passion for science and demonstrating hands on activities. All this was made possible thanks to teams across the entire institution and beyond, including the Nursing Program, the Human Resources Department, the Family Resource Center, the Global Health Initiative, and the Clinical and Translational Research Institute.

Throughout the week, the planning team for the event dedicated special attention to highlighting mental health resources available to our patients, families and staff, including the Mindful Mentors and Wellness programs.

At the closing remarks and award ceremony we celebrated the winning posters selected by our judges, who evaluated each project based on significance, innovation, approach and overall impact across the following categories: basic and translational science; clinical research; community-based research; education, training and program development and quality and performance improvement.

In addition, several awards were presented, including the new Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award, recognizing, honoring and celebrating a team and employee who demonstrated excellence through their DEI-focused efforts. The award criteria were: creativity & innovation, documented impact & outcomes and sustained effort & demonstrated commitment. The closing event also had awards in mentorship, teaching scholars, nursing research support and global health.

These are the winners: