The goal of this training program is to prepare promising graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for successful careers in drug abuse research. We will provide broad-based training in modern concepts of drug abuse research with a special emphasis on: (i) cellular and molecular studies of receptors involved in the response to drugs (ii) development of ligands which interact with these receptors as potential pharmacotherapies for drug abuse and (iii) cellular and molecular aspects of neuroAIDS. The unifying focus of the training faculty is our interest in understanding basic mechanisms related to drug abuse at the molecular level. This training program provides the formal framework for faculty in several different departments who share common and overlapping interests in neuroscience and molecular mechanisms. The emphasis of the training faculty complement each other with a focus on building upon long-term strengths in the drug abuse field with existing expertise in molecular aspects of receptor interaction and response, neuroplasticity and disease (neuroAIDS, aging and neurotrama) and the development of targeted therapeutic agents. Thus, the program will provide a fundamental understanding of how drugs of abuse affect cell function at the macromolecular level and how this addictive transformation affects health. Trainees will learn from faculty who utilize a broad spectrum of state-of-the-art methodological approaches to probe critical questions in drug abuse research. The national need for training new investigators in drug abuse research is clear and the introduction of modern methodologies is crucial for future advances in this area. Only if we better understand the basic mechanisms that regulate drug abuse and apply this knowledge, will we make progress in solving the problems of drug abuse. A unique aspect of this program is the interaction of its trainees with those from a training program in the psychological and behavioral aspects of drug abuse. Thus our trainees will have a broad based knowledge of both molecular, cellular, psychological and behavioral drug abuse research. Our ability to attract and train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to meet the challenges in the area of drug abuse will be greatly enhanced by this training grant.
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