Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are serious illnesses that have life-altering consequences for affected individuals and the family and friends of those persons. Research into understanding the neural substrates that underlie the development of uncontrolled drinking is critical for developing treatments effective at reducing drinking, the incidence of relapse and the deleterious effects of alcohol on brain function. For the past 20 years, the NIAAA sponsored Alcohol Research Training Program at MUSC has been training both basic scientists and clinicians with the tools necessary to carry out this research. This application requests funds to continue this valuable program by providing alcohol-related research training for three pre-doctoral students and four post-doctoral fellows. The training will take place within an outstanding academic research environment that is devoted to understanding the neurobiological basis of alcohol and drug addiction. Over the current project period, there has been tremendous growth and productivity of the addiction neuroscience community at MUSC that provides the mentors for the training program. These faculty are affiliated with the Dept. of Psychiatry and the Dept. of Neurosciences and are all members of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs (CDAP), a division of Psychiatry that serves as the platform for coordinating research activities focused on alcohol and drug addiction. CDAP also houses the majority of the alcohol research faculty in an environment that includes both in-patient and outpatient alcohol and addiction treatment services. The physical proximity of faculty mentors, trainees, and research laboratories within a treatment-based facility is an unparalleled environment in which to provide training. Coupled with this research and treatment-based training environment is a comprehensive program incorporating both didactic and experience-based learning modules. Target trainees in this program are both pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellows (e.g., basic scientists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists) with interests in alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Trainees will be selected by the Program Directors and participating faculty, all of whom have actively funded alcohol and addiction related research projects. The overall goal of this training is to provide basic and clinical scientists with the skills necessary to develop into independent investigators focused on solving the problems associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
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