Inside the Program
Each module provides practical tools that help scientists increase the visibility, reach, and impact of their work.
Module 1: Expand the Impact of Your Science
The One Mind Science Leaders Program is proud to present Expand the Impact of Your Science: A Thought Leadership Workshop, an interactive session designed to help researchers amplify the reach and influence of their work. Led by author and communication coach JD Schramm, this workshop will explore how scientists can evolve from individual contributors to recognized voices in their fields—strategically, authentically, and with greater public impact.
Module 2: Mentorship as a Two-Way Partnership
Mentorship as a Foundation for Wellbeing, Success, and Impact is an interactive session focused on building stronger, more effective mentoring relationships in academic and research environments. Grounded in research showing the powerful connection between mentorship and mental wellbeing, the session will explore how trust, empathy, active listening, boundary setting, and clear communication contribute to healthier, more supportive research cultures.
Participants will reflect on their own mentoring approaches and gain practical strategies for fostering meaningful, reciprocal relationships that support both personal and professional growth. Through discussion and applied learning, the workshop will highlight how transformational mentorship can shape career development, strengthen research outcomes, and create more engaged, resilient, and high-impact teams.
Module 3: Transforming Your Research Through Lived Experience Integration
Lived Experience as a Catalyst for Scientific Impact is an interactive session exploring how integrating lived experience perspectives can strengthen the rigor, relevance, and real-world impact of mental health research. Featuring members of the One Mind Lived Experience Council, the session will examine how researchers can thoughtfully and ethically engage lived experience expertise to advance innovation, equity, and scientific discovery.
Participants will gain practical strategies for incorporating lived experience across the research lifecycle, from shaping research questions to building meaningful collaborations that avoid tokenism and foster mutual benefit. Drawing on perspectives that span neuroscience, leadership, innovation, and lived mental health experience, the session will provide actionable guidance for creating more impactful, inclusive, and community-informed research.
Module 4: Science with a Voice: Strategic Advocacy in a Changing Policy Landscape
Your Voice Matters Now More Than Ever is a timely session focused on the critical role scientists play in shaping policy, funding priorities, and public outcomes during a period of rapid change. As research and mental health funding landscapes continue to evolve, the need for scientific voices in advocacy and decision-making has never been greater.
This session will explore how advocacy is not separate from scientific work, but a natural extension of it. Participants will learn how to effectively use their expertise and voice to influence policy conversations, advance research priorities, and help ensure that science informs the decisions shaping the future of mental health and public wellbeing.
Module 5: Navigating Power Dynamics in Academic Science
Understanding Power Dynamics in Science is an interactive session designed to help researchers recognize and navigate the hierarchies and dependencies that shape academic and research environments. Participants will explore how power dynamics influence communication, decision-making, psychological safety, and team culture, and how these factors can impact both wellbeing and scientific outcomes.
Through discussion and practical strategies, the session will focus on building healthier, more inclusive research environments by strengthening communication, clarifying expectations, and addressing conflict and inequity with greater awareness and intention. Participants will leave with actionable tools to foster psychological safety, improve team dynamics, and lead more effectively within their labs and organizations.
Module 6: Writing for Impact About Your Research
Much of the writing you do is for the scientific community in journals or other research-focused publications. But how do you write about your research for a more lay audience? That’s the task we will explore in our next session. JD Schramm will bring proven tactics (and helpful tips) to support your writing including:
- Applying AIM to all you write
- Understanding the difference between science and business communication
- Formatting to ease the reader’s job and drive results
- Learning tools to support your growth
Whether you are a seasoned writer seeking greater efficiency or a relatively new writer looking to build greater mastery, this short session will provide value. Join us on Tuesday June 16 at 9 am Eastern to explore this topic.
Module 7: Practical Tools for Burnout Prevention and Supervision
Burnout is a growing challenge in academia. As scientists and supervisors, you may see it firsthand in your labs and teams – trainees struggling with long hours, mounting pressure to publish, funding uncertainty, competing demands, and the expectation to continually perform at a high level.
As a supervisor or someone who is training to be a future scientific leader (e.g. PhD student, postdoc), you can play an important role in recognizing when a team member may be experiencing burnout and understanding how to respond. But supporting others can be challenging when you are navigating many of the same pressures yourself.
This session will focus specifically on burnout in scientific environments and the unique challenges faced by research teams. Through evidence-based strategies, real-world examples, and peer discussion, you will develop knowledge and skills to recognize and address signs of burnout, have productive conversations with team members, and take practical steps to create a healthier, more sustainable lab culture, without compromising the work that drives your science forward.
Module 8: Reverse Engineering Your Success: Visioning the Life You Want to Build
Most career planning starts from where you are and asks what comes next. This session starts from where you want to be — five years from now, in concrete detail — and works backward. If you can clearly picture who you want to become, that future self can begin making decisions for you today, helping you say yes to what moves you toward your vision and no to what pulls you away.
We will move through a guided visioning exercise adapted from Amy Lombardo’s Brilliance, designed to surface specific details about the work, relationships, and daily rhythms that define your most fulfilling future. You will leave with a vivid picture of your future self and a short list of concrete shifts — what to start, what to stop, what to protect — that you can act on this week.
In this interactive session, you will:
- Develop a framework for aligning daily choices with long-term direction
- Create a detailed five-year vision across key dimensions of your personal and professional life
- Identify the values, people, and practices that anchor your definition of success
- Translate your vision into decision-making criteria for current opportunities and commitments
