The Inquiring Minds Site, Blog and Campus Mental Health Survey are integral parts of my 2009 Scattergood Emerging Scholars Fellowship, sponsored by Active Minds, Inc. and the Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation. For more information on the Fellowship Program, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/dzt597

The “Inquiring Minds” Blogger

Tanya M. Lukasik is a junior undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University, double majoring in Psychology and Public Health, with a pre-medical concentration. Tanya is a member of the Johns Hopkins Active Minds campus chapter, serves on the Hopkins Psychology Undergraduate Steering Committee, is the founder of the campus organization, WITS: Welcoming and Integrating Transfer Students, and currently interns at the Johns Hopkins Hospital dual diagnosis, mental illness/HIV Moore Clinic. 

Tanya’s Emerging Scholars project titled, “Mental Illness in the College-Aged Population: Identifying and Addressing Obstacles Impeding Access to Psychiatric Care” focuses on investigating the specific key issues, which collectively serve to impede college students’ access to mental health services both on and off campus. The goal of the “Inquiring Minds” site is to disseminate critical information regarding mental health issues related to the college campus environment, essentially improving mental health awareness, advocacy, and health care delivery. The “Inquiring Minds” Blog will feature Blogger-Interviews with leading pioneers and researchers in the field, “mental notes” highlighting students’ personal experiences and stories surrounding mental illness, as well as highlight events and services on campus, and provide links to screening and health care resources such as the Counseling Center and Center for Health and Wellness.

For further information regarding the “Inquiring Minds” project, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/d33r2u

If you are interested in becoming a Resident/Guest Blogger, are a mental health professional available for a Blog- Interview or an “Ask Dr. Blue Jay” session, or would like to submit a Mental Note, please contact Inquiring Minds via e-mail at InquiringMindsMatter@gmail.com for further information.

Scattergood Fellowship Mentor

Steven S. Sharfstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, where he has worked for 22 years, and serves as Clinical Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland.  

A practicing clinician for more than 30 years, he is best known for his research and writing on the economics of practice and public mental health policy.  Over a period of 13 years, he held a variety of positions at the National Institute of Mental Health, including Director of Mental Health Service Programs, as well as positions in consultation/liaison psychiatry and research in behavioral medicine on the campus of the National Institutes of Health.  He has written on a wide variety of clinical and economic topics and has published more than 140 professional papers, 40 book chapters, and ten books, including (as coauthor) Madness and Government: Who Cares for the Mentally Ill?, a history of the federal community mental health centers program.  He was Secretary of the American Psychiatric Association from 1991-95, its Vice President from 2002-2004, and President from 2005-2006.

For detailed information to find out how you can become the next Scattergood Emerging Scholar, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/dzt597

Thomas Scattergood Foundation

The Scattergood Foundation takes its name from Thomas Scattergood, the nineteenth-century Philadelphia Quaker minister who spoke out against the harsh conditions faced by the mentally ill in his era and who advocated for a philosophy of humane treatment which eventually resulted in the founding of Friends Hospital. The Scattergood Foundation’s vision is to “be Thomas Scattergood” for the twenty-first century, seeking opportunities for productive dialogue and learning within the behavioral health field; and activating leadership and collaborative endeavors by awarding targeted grants to address important behavioral health needs in innovative ways.

Active Minds, Inc.

By developing & supporting chapters of a student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy group on campuses, Active Minds works to increase students’ awareness of mental health issues, provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, encourage students to seek help as soon as it is needed, and serve as liaison between students and the mental health community. Through campus-wide events and national programs, Active Minds aims to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, and create a comfortable environment encouraging open conversation about mental health issues on campuses throughout North America.

To learn about the Active Minds Chapter at JHU, please visit…. http://jhu.mystudentgroups.com/groups/44

Johns Hopkins University

America’s first research university. Hopkins is a world leader in research and education in medicine, public health, the arts, sciences, and engineering. The mission of The Johns Hopkins University is to educate its students and cultivate their capacity for life-long learning, to foster independent and original research, and to bring the benefits of discovery to the world.