Newsletters

Sponsors, CRO’s, and advocacy partners are reading the newsletter: we send it out to 2,500+/- contacts and have an average open rate of around 50%! We are constantly adding to and updating the contact database.

In case you missed our newsletters, take some time to browse them below:

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STARR April 2023 News: Congratulating the 2022 STARR Advocate of the Year: The National Federation of Families, Celebrating National Volunteer Month, Welcoming New STARR Community Members, Spotlight on The Key Clubhouse of S. Florida, News from the Certified Sites, and so much more!

This month, we are featuring this year’s STARR Advocate of the Year, The National Federation of Families, announced at the annual STARR Awards Celebration, held Thursday, December 22nd. The National Federation of Families (NFF) is a national family-run organization linking more than 120 state and local affiliates and national partners focused on the issues of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs and substance use challenges and their families. NFF was recognized for their ongoing and enthusiastic support of the STARR’s mission and advocacy efforts.  Learn more about NFF and the outstanding work they do on behalf of the families and caregivers of children with mental illnesses.

April is National Volunteer Month and if there is one thing we love, it’s those intrepid souls that volunteer for mental health research!  We are acutely aware of the barriers to mental health research, in particular, so recognizing and celebrating those that that participate in research is so important!

We are delighted to shine a spotlight on one of our Research Ambassadors this month. Charles feels really good about research and is more than happy to talk to friends and peers about it. Don’t miss this excellent Q&A!

April is also Stress Awareness Month and we’ve included some tips and links to help destress your life. Along these lines, don’t miss the Hidden Brain’s Happiness 2.0: The Reset Button podcast. It isn’t short (it’s almost an hour), but trust us when we say that it is so worth it.

Mallory and Erica were interviewed on ABC’s ‘Voices for the Brain’ Podcast series and we’ve included that link, in case you missed it.

We’ve got an updated News from the Certified Sites section, with news out of Woodland NW, NBCR, NTXCT, and Midwest. We are especially happy to share that the STARR hosted an Auditory Hallucination Simulation empathy exercise with some of the NTXCT staff and it was a fantastic experience!

Don’t miss this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, where we recap some of the less publicized but pertinent news items you may have missed in last month, along with the latest Upcoming Events list, and a new Survey for Sites, which poses the question, “How much appreciation does your site show to your study volunteers?” Please take a moment to provide your answer, as we could really use your input!

Check out the April 2023 Newsletter here.


STARR March 2023 News: Congratulating CNS Healthcare, the 2022 STARR Site of the Year, Celebrating Disability Awareness Month and Women’s History Month, Spotlight on ERG’s STARR 911 training, Shout-out to some of our Certified Sites’ efforts in the community, a new Monthly Survey Question, News You May Have Missed, and so much more!

We are excited to feature this year’s STARR Sponsor of the Year, CNS Healthcare, announced at the annual STARR Awards Celebration, held Thursday, December 22nd. CNS-HC was recognized for their phenomenal community outreach, supporting community activities and events, and offering education on mental illnesses and mental health clinical research.

February is both Disability Awareness Month and Women’s History Month. We spotlighted some of the women that make up the STARR community in the newsletter and on our social media platforms… if you aren’t following the STARR on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, take a moment to check in now!

We had some really great news updates from the Certified Sites, with items on CenExel iResearch, North Texas Clinical Trials, Midwest Clinical Research, and Segal Trials!

Don’t miss this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, where we recap some of the less publicized but pertinent news items you may have missed from February. 

We’ve the latest Upcoming Events list, and  March’s Site Survey, which poses the question: what is the greatest challenge for newly hired research staff? Please take a moment to provide your feedback!

Check out the March 2023 Newsletter here.


STARR February 2023 News: Congratulating the 2022 STARR Sponsor of the Year: Otsuka, Celebrating Black History Month, Diversity Workgroup Update, Spotlight on Letitia Griffin, Welcoming New STARR Certified Site NTXCT, Introducing Black Women in Clinical Research, Monthly Survey Question, News You May Have Missed, and so much more!

We are excited to feature this year’s STARR Sponsor of the Year, OTSUKA, announced at the annual STARR Awards Celebration, held Thursday, December 22nd. Otsuka was recognized for their ongoing support of Project RockSTARR, having budgeted more than $200,000 for local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA advocacy chapters, on behalf of the volunteers in their studies. Learn more about Otsuka and the outstanding support they provide to mental health advocacy organizations, as well as their efforts through the Sozosei Foundation to eliminate the use of jail and prisons for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

February is Black History Month and the STARR’s Diversity Workgroup took the lead on several initiatives for this month, so it is fitting that we featured an update on the Diversity Workgroup and their new co-chair, Letitia Griffin. Letitia, who is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CNS Healthcare, has been focused on outreach to underserved communities, providing care, advocating for careers in clinical research, and doing an amazing job overcoming barriers that prevent treatment.

We were delighted to introduce Black Women in Clinical Research and founder Danielle Mitchell, who is working hard to promote careers in clinical research within African American communities and creating an industry forum for black women to support one another.

Don’t miss this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, where we recap some of the less publicized but pertinent news items you may have missed in January.

We’ve included News from the Certified Sites, along with the latest Upcoming Events list, and a request for survey responses from the National Federation of Families. 

Last but not least, this month’s Site Survey poses the question: how much effort does your site put into the recruitment of culturally diverse populations? We could really use your input, so please take a moment to provide your feedback!

Check out the February 2023 Newsletter here.


STARR January 2023 News: Congratulating the 2022 STARR Award Winners, National Mentoring Month, Four Pharma Social Media Campaigns in the Spotlight, Call for Sites for Teva Study, Monthly Survey Question, and Interesting News Tidbits!

A condensed newsletter for January, but we’ve still got a few good items for you including the winners of the STARR Awards for Sponsor of the Year, Site of the Year, Advocate of the Year, and the Lew Yagodnk Award were announced at the annual STARR Awards Celebration, held Thursday, December 22nd. We’ve got the link to the video for you in this month’s Newsletter.

We’re happy to share a few interesting social media campaigns that create good will and brand recognition without pitching a specific treatment option. The campaigns utilize platforms not commonly used by pharma, and each offers some good examples of fresh ways to promote the company.

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we lead off with NAMI’s State of Mental Health Report, which highlights state mental health legislation from 2020-2021. Also, Otsuka and Lundbeck announced FDA acceptance for the treatment of agitation associated with Alzheimer’s dementia, new research on a stress link in the brain, schizophrenia brain hotspots, and a few other items you may have missed in November.

Teva has issued a call for sites to help with a study assessing the impact of TD – we’ve got the links for you to check it out.

This month’s Site Survey poses the question on the three greatest challenges for newly hired research assistants. We could really use your input, so please take a moment to provide your feedback!

Check out the January 2023 Newsletter here.


STARR December 2022 News: Join us for the 2022 STARR Awards Celebration, Welcoming Teva to the STARR Community, Update on Matthew Shapiro, Conducting a Personal Annual Review, Call for ABC Response, Update on 988, Site Spotlight, and so much more…

December is one of our favorite months, not just because of the holidays, but because we get to host the annual STARR Awards Celebration! This year’s event was on Thursday, December 22nd, and was emceed by the renowned Adam Simmons.

We are excited about welcoming new corporate member Teva to the STARR community and have been working with the Teva team on several projects, ranging from community engagement initiatives, helping to expand Teva’s US psychiatric site network, and connecting Teva to the Research Ambassadors and caregivers.

This month’s 988 Update features NAIM-NYS’s latest 988 marketing efforts, which include three versions of a 988 brochure that contains basic information about 988 including reasons individuals may contact 988, what happens when someone calls, texts, or chats 988, frequently asked questions, and much more! It’s an excellent resource for sharing the basics of 988 and could very easily be used to create brochures that can be used outside of NY.

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve brought you info on Karuna’s appointment of Bill Meury as the new president and CEO, more on Alkermes’ oncology – neuroscience business split, some interesting research on psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol use disorder, some updates on Alzheimer’s research, and the results from a national survey on brain health and brain health research, among some other tidbits you may have missed in November.

There is some great news from the STARR Certified Sites, including updates from CenExel iResearch and ACMR, CNS Healthcare, and ERG’s Finger Lakes Clinical Research.

We know everyone has been thinking about him since his accident, so we are very pleased to provide an update on our 2020 Lew Yagodnik Award Winner and NAMI-NYS staff member, Matthew Shapiro. Matthew’s positive attitude and can-do mindset exemplify what makes Matthew such a powerful force as an advocate!

We’ve updated the Upcoming Events listings and included a new site survey question, offer a great article on conducting a Personal Annual Review, and much more!

Check out the December 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR November 2022 News: Caregivers Appreciation Month, New Advocacy Ace Award Winner, ABC’s Congressional Briefing on Psychedelics, Update on 988, Site Spotlight, and so much more…

November is recognized as National Caregiver Appreciation Month, a month-long tribute to recognize those individuals providing care-giving support to a family member or loved one with a chronic illness or disability. We’ve got NAMI’s “Circle of Care: A Guidebook for Mental Health Caregivers” to help you support the caregivers in your network.

This month’s Advocacy Ace spotlight with Justin Amburgey at Chicago Research Center, who raised $1,800 for their local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA offices through their participation in Project RockSTARR.

We are delighted to spotlight CNS Healthcare’s three sites this month. CNS Healthcare just received their STARR Site Certification renewal and is doing so much to support their patients and communities!

We’ve got an update on the status of the mental health lifeline 988 that launched in July. We’ve included NAMI’s map showing where each state is in their uptake of 988 state legislation, as well as model legislation to share with your state policymakers.

If you weren’t able to attend ABC’s Congressional briefing on the potential use of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric diseases, we’ve got the link to the YouTube video. It is well worth checking out.

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve brought you info on Alkermes’ ‘Tackling Unmet Medical Illness’ article, Otsuka’s integration of Avanir, new research on a schizophrenia hotspot in the upper prefrontal cortex, Biohaven’s (fantastic) video promoting the trial it’s running for an investigational obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) study, among some other tidbits you may have missed in October.

We checked out Datacubed’s webinar on maximizing retention in pediatric trials and summed up the take-aways for you.

We’ve updated the Upcoming Events listings and included News from the Certified Sites, an update on STARR founding member and NAMI-NYS staff, Matthew Shapiro, along with the link to the Newsweek article he was quoted in, brought you a new site survey question, and much more!

Check out the November 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR October 2022 News: Depression Awareness Month, Mental Health Screening Month, ADHD Awareness Month, New Advocacy Ace Award Winner, Auditory Hallucination Simulation Exercise at Karuna, Marcus McCarty-Towers Podcast, Update on 988, Site Spotlight, and so much more…

October is full of mental illness awareness activities and we’ve got them all listed for you with resources and links to help you raise awareness and promote your company!

This month’s Advocacy Ace spotlight with Kenzie Mayes of Austin Clinical Trial Partners, who raised over $2,000 for their local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA offices through their participation in Project RockSTARR.

Karuna Therapeutics hosted an amazing company-wide Auditory Hallucination Simulation program, featuring The STARR Coalition’s AHS exercise. It worked beautifully and we’ve got the inside scoop for you in this month’s newsletter.

Our Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Mallory Mercer, brings us the latest STARR Podcast with Marcus McCary-Towers, the Patient Recruitment lead at Midwest Clinical Research Center. Not only is Marcus a fascinating guy, but he shares some really interesting tips on recruitment and community engagement.

We’ve got an update on the status of the mental health lifeline 988. SAMHSA has released new numbers showing the August ’21 to August ’22 increase in calls is almost 50%. That’s before doing any wide-scale public awareness campaign to promote 988, so the numbers are expected to trend up. So, what’s next with 988? We’ve got you.

We encourage everyone to check out SAMHSA’s 988 Partner Toolkit and download, use, and share the available resources!

We’ve got a wonderful new person in the STARR community: Molly Little of Neuro-Behavioral Clinical Research (NBR) and the Ohio Center for Hope. Molly is leading the community engagement activities and has a bunch of holiday events planned for the Halloween – Thanksgiving – Christmas season. We’ve got some of the details, but we’re happy to connect you to Molly, if you’d like to reach out to her directly!

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve included an article on Otsuka and Lundbeck’s latest FDA New Drug Application, an item on folic acid and suicide risk, a note on parasocial relationships and stigma, an interesting (but now obvious) data on circadian rhythm disruption among individuals with mental health disorders, and a few other tidbits you may have missed.

We’ve updated the Upcoming Events listings and included News from the Certified Sites, brought you a new site survey question (and the data from September’s survey), and much more!

Check out the October 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR September 2022 News: Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month, New STARR Advocacy Ace Awardee, Jill Harkavy-Friedman Podcast, Update on 988, and so much more…

September is Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month as well as National Recovery Month and we’ve got you covered with links to support both.

Our Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Mallory Mercer, brings us the latest STARR Podcast with Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, Senior Vice President of Research for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). AFSP is a phenomenal resource for those at risk as well as for loved ones, including  warning signs, tools for prevention, support services, and much more.

We’ve got an update on the status of the mental health lifeline 988 that launched in July. Despite staffing challenges and some negative coverage (including an NPR-published article suggesting that 988 “is not friendly”), the mental health lifeline launch is helping people. We encourage everyone to check out SAMHSA’s 988 Partner Toolkit and download, use, and share the available resources!

Check out this month’s Advocacy Ace spotlight with Kenzie Mayes of Austin Clinical Trial Partners, who raised over $2,000 for their local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA offices through their participation in Project RockSTARR.

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve brought you info on Axsome’s FDA-approved MDD treatment, the potential interrelationships between domains of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, a study that breaks the ‘stoner’ stereotype, and California’s new metal health care plan for the homeless (a must read), among some other tidbits you may have missed in September.

We’ve updated the Upcoming Events listings and included News from the Certified Sites, brought you a new site survey question, and much more!

Check out the September 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR August 2022 News: Overdose Awareness Month, National Alliance for Eating Disorders Podcast, Update on 988, and so much more…

August is Overdose Awareness Month and we’ve got the links to support overdose awareness. We can all take action to address the overdose epidemic and enhance our support for individuals facing substance use disorder so that we can save lives.

Our Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Mallory Mercer, brings us the latest STARR Podcast with Johanna Kandel, Founder and CEO of The National Alliance for Eating Disorders. We know that a few of you are working on eating disorder studies and we wanted to introduce you to Johanna, who is a great resource.

We’ve got an update on the status of the mental health lifeline 988 that launched July 16th, some good info, and links to the 988 Partner Toolkit from SAMHSA. We encourage everyone to check out SAMHSA’s 988 Partner Toolkit and download, use, and share the available resources!

Check out this month’s Advocacy Ace spotlight with Erzie Nagy of Woodstock Research Center, who raised $650 for their local NAMI affiliate through their participation in Project RockSTARR.

With Back-to-School season in full swing, we’ve included some information from The Jed Foundation on supporting students’ mental health as they head off to school.

In this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve brought you info on Karuna Therapeutics’ results from their KarXT P-3 study (all good!), a report on how one’s environment influences the development of psychosis, lab-grown modular neural networks, and newly-released research on mothers, attachment, and incidence of adult anxiety and depression.

We’ve updated the Upcoming Events listings and included a new section on News from the Certified Sites, brought you a new site survey question, and much more!

Check out the August 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR July 2022 News: BIPOC Mental Health Month, Project People-USA Podcast, Update on 988 Launch, and so much more…

July is BIPOC Mental Health Month and we’ve got the links to activities and events that bring awareness to and support the mental health of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Learning about how culture and identity factors affect mental health is the first step to addressing inequality and ensuring everyone has access to mental health care.

Our Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Mallory Mercer, brings us the latest STARR Podcast with Steve Miccio, Founder of People-USA. Steve’s unique model of crises intervention and respite housing is helping thousands of people during and well after their mental health crises and is an important new model for these services.

With the new mental health lifeline 988 launching across the country on July 16th, we’ve got your info and links to resources. We’ll keep you updated on the launch as it progresses!

Check out this month’s Advocacy Ace spotlight with Allison Laska at UCONN Health, who raised over $800 for their local NAMI and MHA offices through their participation in Project RockSTARR, and the Upcoming Events listings.

Finally, in this month’s ‘In Case You Missed It’ section, we’ve brought you info on an NIH study’s findings on how immune response triggered by Covid-19 may damage the brain; a study on how psychosis is influenced by neighborhood; links to father-child depression regardless of genetic relatedness, and much more.

Check out the July 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR June 2022 News: PTSD Awareness Month, Project RockSTARR update, an ADAA diversity resource, and so much more…

June is PTSD Awareness Month so whether you are involved in a PTSD trial or not, be sure to help spread some education on PTSD. We’ve got a list of resources for you to share with your patients and volunteers.

Our Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Mallory Mercer, was delighted to meet so many of you at ASCP and included a note in this month’s newsletter.

You don’t want to miss the ADAA’s new Inclusive Language Guide, which they’ve developed with help from the American Psychiatric Association. The guidelines aim to raise awareness, guide learning, and support the use of culturally sensitive terms and phrases that center the voices and perspectives of those who are often marginalized or stereotyped.  The STARR Coalition is a long-time proponent of the importance of the language that we use and the ADAA’s new Guide is so good that we’ve added it to our site (see the Language Module under the Certification area)!

Check out this month’s podcast spotlight with Chris Bullard, who founded the Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health (an event to watch, as they are looking to explode on the scene at SXSW), an article on the upcoming launch of the new mental health lifeline 988 (are we ready?), a call for grant proposals from the Dana Foundation, and an updated Upcoming Events section.

Finally, let us hear from you on this month’s survey question: Do you survey your research volunteers during or after the clinical trial? And check out the results from last month’s survey on getting volunteer’s input on studies.

Check out the June 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR May 2022 News: Mental Health Awareness Month, new STARR Podcast, this month’s Advocacy Ace Awardees, and so much more…

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Check out the latest topics and toolkits from our advocacy partners, as well as some phenomenal events including the Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health and the 2022 Mental Health Action Day. 

We’re keeping an eye on the Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health — they have big plans and the potential to be the SXSW for mental health awareness — we’ve provided a sneak peak at the founder’s podcast about the Festival, which we’ll spotlight next month.

This month’s podcast spotlight is on Dr. Lynda Gargan, who serves as the Executive Director for the National Federation of Families, which links more than 120 state and local affiliates and national partners focused on the issues of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs and substance use challenges and their families.

We’ve also got a new Volunteer Voice and an updated Upcoming Events section, along with a poll on collecting volunteer input on studies. We’ll share the results next month!

Check out the May 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR April 2022 News: Volunteer Month, Spotlight on the STARR Sponsor of the Year, this month’s Advocacy Ace Awardees, and so much more…

Arguably one of the most important months to celebrate — April is National Volunteer Month! Get the facts in the April STARR Newsletter.

We’ve also featured the STARR Sponsor of the Year, Karuna Therapeutics, along with another RockSTARR Advocacy Ace, and new advocacy partner, the National Federation of Families.

We’ve added a section with relevant news items you may have missed in April, as well as a great article on Study Retention Considerations.

We’ve got the usual Volunteer Voice and an updated Upcoming Events section.

Check out the April 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR March 2022 News: National Women’s History Month, Spotlight on the STARR Lew Yagodnik Awardee, this month’s Advocacy Ace Awardee, and more great info…

Learn more about Paul Jaquith, the STARR Lew Yagodnik Award Winner, along with another RockSTARR Advocacy Ace, and new advocacy partner, Letters from Strangers.

Also this month, we’ve included an update from the American Brain Coalition on Congress’s newly released 2022 omnibus appropriations agreement, as well as March’s Volunteer Voice and an updated Upcoming Events section.

Check out the March 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR February 2022 News: National Black History Month, Spotlight on the STARR Site of the Year, this month’s Advocacy Ace Awardee, and so much more…

Learn more about CenExel=ACMR, the STARR Site of the Year, along with another RockSTARR Advocacy Ace, and new advocacy partner, People USA.

We’ve kicked off the February News with a survey on what everyone would like to see as one of the next Site:Site Zoom Calls so we can make sure we’re giving you what you want. Also included is February’s Volunteer’s Thoughts on Research and an updated Upcoming Events section.

Check out the February 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR January 2022 News: Recapping the Annual STARR Awards Presentation, Project RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards, Key Clubhouse of South Florida Spotlight, Upcoming Partner Meetings, News and Updates

Just in case anyone missed the Annual Awards Presentation, we’ve got the recap in The January 2022 STARR News. 

Learn about National Mentoring Month in this month’s news. The January STARR News featured the Key Clubhouse of South Florida, the newest STARR Advocacy partner. We’ve featured another RockSTARR Advocacy Ace award winner, a new Volunteers’ Voice quote, and updated our Upcoming Events section.

Check out the January 2022 Newsletter here.


STARR December 2021 News: Annual STARR Awards Presentation, Year-end Updates on STARR Programs, New Certified Site Spotlight, Project RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards, Upcoming Partner Meetings, News and Updates

December was super busy and we covered a lot of great stuff in the December Newsletter, including the Annual STARR Awards Presentation to the 2021 Sponsor of the Year, CRO of the Year, Site of the Year, Advocate of the Year, and the Lewy! The virtual awards presentation was a fabulous way to close out 2021!

We provided year-end updates on all of the STARR programs — if you want to know what is going on with the STARR, that is the section to read as we cover info and updates on 6 programs and 4 workgroups.

We presented the first RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards to 32 phenomenal researchers whose screened volunteers have designated the most donations to their local advocacy organizations. We’ve featured the first Advocacy Ace in the newsletter. 

We’ve introduced a monthly article written by individuals with lived experience. This month, we featured an article from Douglas Meron, who lives with Schizophrenia and wrote about the importance of building a support system.

Check out the December 2021 Newsletter here.


STARR November 2021 News: Latest STARR Site:Site Zoom Conversation on Decentralized Trials, National Caregivers Appreciation Month, Spotlight on AFSP, News and Updates

In November, we hosted a Site:Site Zoom Conversation on Decentralized Clinical Trials: Site Perspectives and Next Steps. Co-Hosts Judy Galindo and Nelson Rutrick hit on how sites are offering flexible (hybrid!) study capabilities, as well as the future outlook and what sites can do in response to DCT pressure.

The November Advocacy Spotlight was on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and we updated our Upcoming Events section to include a few links to YouTube-accessible meetings from the recent past.

Check out the November 2021 Newsletter here.


STARR October 2021 News: Latest STARR Site:Site Zoom Conversation on Staffing, National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month and ADHD Awareness Month, Introducing the new Study Volunteer Transition Workgroup, Upcoming Partner Meetings, News and Updates

In October, we hosted a Site:Site Zoom Conversation on staffing and current site operations, which was an open, honest conversation about staffing and offered many great tips on how to keep the staff that you have, as well as deal with some of the challenges of outside study staff (CRAs, sponsors, etc.). If you missed it, be sure to check out the video (in a link to be provided in the November Newsletter!).

We launched the Study Volunteer Transition Workgroup to create resources for volunteers transitioning out of studies.

We posted information on NAMI-NYS’s Education Conference, where STARR had a virtual booth promoting the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research. We also posted information on the American Brain Coalition’s Annual Meeting, which we are super excited about!

Check out the October Newsletter here.


STARR September 2021 News: Latest STARR Site:Site Zoom Conversation, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, New Advocacy Partner, New STARR Employee, NIH’s ARPA-H call, News and Updates

September’s Newsletter was a busy month for all: Along with being Suicide Prevention Awareness month, the STARR hosted a Site:Site Zoom Conversation on the impact of the Delta Variant on site operations; we welcomed new STARR employee Mallory Mercer and new advocacy organization, The Jed Foundation.

We launched a volunteer testimonial segment, which we plan on including in all of our future Newsletters, social media, and we’re happy to share these with the community.

We reported on the August 16 NIH’s ARPA-H listening session focused on “Advocates for Research on Neurology and Mental Health,” and issued a call to action to support the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research.

Read the September Newsletter here.


STARR July 2021 News: BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, National Suicide Crisis Hotline, Advocates in the News Supporting Research, News and Updates

July’s Newsletter included the information on BIPOC Mental Health Awareness month, with a link to MHA’s ‘Strength in Communities’ toolkit. We’ve got information and updates on *988, the national mental health and suicide crisis hotline number that will go into service across the country in 2022, as well as a link to a phenomenal tv news story featuring our friend, Matthew Shapiro of NAMI-NYS discussing a new schizophrenia treatment and the need for new mental health treatments.

We’ve issued a call for topics for our monthly Site:Site Zoom Conversations, as well as a call to action to support the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research.

Read the July Newsletter here.


STARR May 2021 News: Mental Health Awareness Month, Interactive Zoom Conversation on Research Sites’ Role in the Community: Working with Local Advocacy & Non-Profit Groups, the latest STARR Podcast, News and Updates

Although Mental Health Awareness Month has been  observed annually since 1949, the COVID pandemic brought mental health into special focus, having had a profound effect on the mental health of everyone. This year, more than ever before, it is critical to do what we can to reduce the stigma of mental health disorders AND mental health research.

In May, we’ve included the link to register for the upcoming Research Sites’ Role in the Community: Working with Local Advocacy & Non-Profit Groups zoom conversation on research sites’ role in their local community as a trusted and valuable part of the healthcare ecosystem, with tips on how to build strong relationships with the local advocacy and non-profit groups.

Be sure to check out this month’s featured podcast: Andrei Pikalov, MD, PhD, Vice President and Head of Global Medical Affairs! Check that out HERE.

Read the May Newsletter here.


STARR April 2021 News: Interactive Zoom Conversation on Trauma Informed Care, The Confess Project, PsychU’s STARR interview, the latest STARR Podcast, News and Updates

April was especially busy with the launch of the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research — if you haven’t joined the Call yet, do so now HERE!

This month, we’ve included the link to register for the upcoming Trauma Informed Care zoom conversation and May’s Mental Health Awareness Month toolbox, as well as an introduction to our dear friend, Lorenzo Lewis, the founder and CEO of the Confess Project, .

Be sure to check out this month’s featured podcast: Michael Pollock, CEO of one of our favorite advocacy organizations, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)!

Read all about it here!


STARR March 2021 News: Zoom Conversation to discuss the launch the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research, STARR Diversity Workgroup Update, and the American Brain Coalition’s Initiative for an FDA Neuroscience Center of Excellence

This month’s STARR News includes the link to the zoom call around the launch of the National Call to Action to Support Mental Health Research — our biggest initiative ever!

Co-hosted by three members from the Call to Action Steering Committee, Andrei Pikalov, Sunovion, Emily Freitag, Sage, and Adam Simmons, Alkermes, this zoom call lays out the details of this important program. We need everyone’s help and active participation to ensure the success of the Call to Action and  more importantly, support mental health research!

Read about the American Brain Coalition’s Initiative for an FDA Neuroscience Center of Excellence, another great initiative that deserves our support.

Check it out here!


STARR February 2021 News: Interactive Zoom Conversation with Advocacy on Building Relationships, Oregon’s CAHOOTS Program, Latest STARR Podcast, News and Updates

Since we skipped January’s News, we doubled up in February! If you haven’t checked out NAMI’s podcast with Tim Black on their CAHOOTS program, we strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to learn about this effective and successful program. Also, meet Kevin Lynch of The Quell Foundation, and learn about the latest additions to the STARR program line-up!

Check it out here!


STARR December News: Happy Holidays! 2020 STARR Awards Announced!

In case you missed it, The Starr Coalition hosted our 2020 Annual Star of Excellence Awards Ceremony via Zoom this year and it was like a wonderful holiday party! Check out all of the winners in the STARR December News, along with updates on what to look forward to in 2021 with the STARR Site Certifications.

Check it out here!


STARR November News: Happy Thanksgiving! STARR 2020 Awards, Lisa Horowitz, NIH, Featured Podcast, News and Updates

November’s STARR News features STARR 911, this month’s Featured Podcast, and the announcement on the Annual STARR Awards Ceremony!
Check it out here!


STARR News: Interactive Zoom Conversation, New Diversity Workgroup, Advocacy Partners, News and Updates

October’s STARR News features updates on the latest STARR Workgroup on Diversity, info on the interactive zoom conversation on recruitment, The STARR’s new advocacy partners, and more.
Check it out here!


STARR News: Interactive Zoom Conversation, New Certified Sites and Advocacy Partners, News and Updates

September’s STARR News features updates on the latest STARR Certified Sites, info on the interactive zoom conversation on site operations in a pandemic, The STARR’s new advocacy partners, and more.

Check it out here!


STARR News: Interactive Zoom Conversation, New Certified Sites, News and Updates

June’s STARR News features updates on the STARR Site Certification program, information on the site-to-site interactive zoom conversation, connecting with advocacy, and the latest STARR podcast with Dr. William Potter, NIMH.

Check it out here!


STARR News: Site-to-Site Webinar, Mental Health Awareness Month 2020, News and Updates

April’s STARR News features updates on the STARR Site Certification program, information on the Site-to-Site Webinar, connecting with advocacy, and the STARR #ResearchResponds webpage.

Check it out here!


STARR News: Site Certification, COVID-19

March’s STARR News features updates on the STARR Site Certification program, COVID-19 outbreak information, updated Sponsors for the certification program, and the latest sites, podcasts, and survey question.

Check it out here!


Holiday Wishes from The STARR – 2019

Holiday Greetings 2019


Recap from CNS Summit 2019

Another amazing CNS Summit in the books for The STARR Coalition! Not only was the the STARR Silent Karaoke booth a huge hit, but on Saturday afternoon, leaders from across the research industry and advocacy met to attend The STARR Coalition Breakout Session. We discussed the STARR Site Certification and awarded innovative organizations and programs changing the conversation around cutting-edge CNS research.
Check out the photos here!


STARR News: Mental Health Awareness Month 2019

Starr News: Celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month 2019


Patrick Kennedy at the CNS Summit

The Honorable Patrick J Kennedy joined The STARR Coalition during the CNS Summit.  Read more about it!

See the Pictures


Save the Date

Please join us during the CNS Summit this year!

Read the Invite