Volume 1 | March 2022
Mentorship Resources for Mentors and Mentees
Resource Materials
Additional resources have been provided by CIMER to help improve research mentoring relationships. These resources focus on the following topics: Mentorship in the Time of COVID, Culturally Aware Mentoring, and Career Development.

Building and Sustaining Mentor Interactions as a Mentee

Please read the article published in 2021 in The FEBS Journal, Building and Sustaining Mentor Interactions as a Mentee.

Advice from the ACNP Mentors Based Upon Responses to the Case Study

Case Study: Helping Your Mentee to Say No

Near Peer Mentor/Mentee Highlights
Gregory V. Carr, Ph.D. - Mentor
ACNP Associate Member
Mentee Pair: Michelle Sequeira
Brief Bio: Gregory Carr, Ph.D. is a Lead Investigator in the Drug Discovery and Development Group of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) and an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Carr leads the LIBD in vivo pharmacology laboratory with the goal of identifying novel therapeutics for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Carr received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Kenyon College and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Lieber Institute, Dr. Carr was a postdoctoral fellow in the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health and an adjunct instructor in the Department of Biology at Howard University.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to collect best practices from the other mentors. There is a nice variety of perspectives and experiences.

What makes ACNP membership special? The ACNP Annual Meeting is my favorite scientific conference and has been since my first meeting in 2011. The high-quality scientific programs and the opportunities to meet with colleagues and friends in the field always make it a worthwhile experience.

What are 5 interesting facts about you?
  1. I grew up in Rhode Island, which is known for great seafood, and I live in Maryland, which is known for great seafood, but I’m allergic to fish and shellfish.
  2. My favorite meal is a cheeseburger and fries.
  3. I played baseball at Kenyon College and turned down an offer to play pro ball in Europe to start grad school instead. Mainly because the salary offer was somehow lower than my grad school stipend.
  4. My favorite movie is whichever Denzel Washington movie is on at the time.
  5. I have an irrational hatred of snow.
Michelle K. Sequeira, B.S. - Mentee
Mentor Pair: Gregory Carr

Brief Bio: I am a Ph.D. candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Shannon Gourley at Emory University. I study how stress hormones and cocaine interact to affect behavior.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? My favorite thing that I have learned from the mentoring training sessions is the mentoring network map. I like having a structured way to think about my different mentoring relationships.

What are 5 interesting facts about you?
  1. I love listening to music as evidenced by the fact that I listened to ~153 days' worth of music on Spotify last year.
  2. I have a dog named Marvel.
  3. I'm not a huge fan of coffee, but I can't get by without my daily cup of tea.
  4. I am the oldest of 4 siblings.
  5. I am planning on defending my dissertation in the fall!
Breno S. Diniz, M.D., Ph.D. - Mentor
ACNP Associate Member
Mentee Pair: Laura Benoît
Brief Bio: I am an M.D./Ph.D. graduate at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (M.D.) and the University of Sao Paulo (Ph.D.), both in Brazil. I did my psychiatry residency training and geriatric psychiatry fellowship at the University of Sao Paulo. I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut. Before this position, I was Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the UTHSC-Houston (2016-2018) and at the University of Toronto.   

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? I have learned a lot about young investigators' perspectives on career development in academia and industry, especially from the lenses of the URM young investigators.  

What makes ACNP membership special? The ACNP is a very welcoming society that gathers the best investigators in the field of neuropsychopharmacology and psychiatry. It is a unique place to meet new people and develop long-lasting collaborations and networking. 

What are 5 interesting facts about you?
  1. I used to be a dance instructor in my "old days" (for some very Brazilian rhythms).
  2. My favorite hobby is cooking indoors (in the winter) and barbecuing (in the rest of the year).
  3. I used to play in a "samba" band and did a little bit of theater during medical school.
  4. San Antonio, TX is my favorite city in the U.S.
  5. I do not like going to the beach (this is almost a sin for a Brazilian).
Laura J. Benoît, B.S. - Mentee
Mentor Pair: Breno Diniz

Brief Bio: Laura Benoît (she/her) is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Columbia University. She recently defended her thesis in the department of Neurobiology and Behavior, studying the adolescent development of the prefrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus, two brain regions that are important for cognitive functioning and implicated in schizophrenia. She is now finishing her medical studies and plans to apply for Psychiatry residency programs next year. 

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? Mentorship maps

What are 5 interesting facts about you?
  1. I was on the varsity fencing team in college but had never fenced before.
  2. I've lived in 3 continents.
  3. I love Broadway musicals, especially when you win a lottery ticket.
  4. I have several plants that I've grown from food pits/seeds, including an avocado tree.
  5. I love to bake.
Near Peer Mentorship Program
An overview of the URM Near Peer Mentorship Program was featured in the recent February Bulletin which was provided to the ACNP membership.

ACNP 2022 Annual Meeting - Save the Date!
Saturday, December 3, 2022
The URM Near Peer Mentorship Program in-person meeting will take place on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, AZ just before the 2022 ACNP Annual Meeting. All mentees will be invited to attend and experience the ACNP Annual Meeting. Please visit our website to view the preliminary Annual Meeting schedule.

Remaining 2022 Near Peer Mentorship Sessions:

April 13, 2022 - 1 Hour Session for Mentees
June 22, 2022 - 1 Hour Session for Mentors
August 17, 2022 - 1 Hour Session for Mentors and Mentees
October 19, 2022 - 1 Hour Session for Mentors and Mentees
December 3, 2022 - In-Person Session for Mentors and Mentees at ACNP Annual Meeting
The College is accepting applications for
2022 Travel Awards!
Please visit the ACNP Website or view the Travel Award Flyer to see the changes for the eligibility timeline and changes to the travel award categories. The Education and Training Committee hope these changes will provide more inclusivity to the Travel Award program.

The deadline to submit an application is April 21, 2022.