Congratulations to Shannon Grogans, who successfully proposed her TIE (Transition to Independence and Expertise) project. The TIE project is a key milestone in the clinical psychological science doctoral program at Maryland. The TIE project, which replaces the more traditional qualifying exams, serves as the gateway to the dissertation. For her TIE project, Shannon will prepare a NIH NRSA (“F31”) fellowship application focused on linking neuroimaging measures of threat-reactivity to longitudinal waves of clinical, life stress, and smartphone experience-sampling (‘EMA’) data in young adults at risk for developing anxiety disorders and depression. As part of the TIE experience, Shannon will receive structured mentorship in grant preparation from several faculty (Dougherty and Chronis-Tuscano) with successful records of NIH support. If awarded, the NRSA will provide protected time, allowing Shannon to more fully immerse herself in advanced statistical modeling and EMA techniques. Independent of the ultimate outcome of the fellowship application, the TIE project will allow her to develop a detailed blueprint for her dissertation project.