This continuation application proposes to support 3 pre-doctoral and 3 post-doctoral trainees with a faculty of 20 drawn from six academic and research units of the University of Kentucky. The rich environment provides opportunities for translational and multidisciplinary bio-behavioral research training in facilities such as the: 1) Center on Drug and Alcohol Research/Straus Research Building; 2) Center for Drug and Alcohol Research Translation; 3) Center for Clinical and Translational Science; 4) Laboratory of Human Behavioral Pharmacology; and 5) Residential Research Facility. During the most recent five-year funding period, we trained 10 pre-doctoral students and 8 post-doctoral fellows. These trainees have authored 237 publications and presented 336 papers at local, national or international conferences. Seventeen of these trainees remain involved in research or academics. Additional pre-doctoral trainees (N=2) and post-doctoral fellows (N=3) will be added during the final year of the current funding period to keep all 6 training slots filled. Individuals from under-represented racial and ethnic groups filled 27 percent of the available training slots. The program is designed to prepare trainees to assume translational and multidisciplinary research responsibilities in academic and other scientific organizations concerned with substance-use disorders (SUDs). Pre-doctoral trainees concentrate in translational and interdisciplinary aspects of SUDs as part of a doctoral program in a behavioral science discipline (e.g., psychology, sociology). Post-doctoral fellows have a doctorate in a behavioral science discipline and are preparing for a research role in SUDs, or they are health professionals seeking translational and interdisciplinary training in a behavioral orientation in SUDs research. Basic elements of the program include: (1) training in the basic building blocks of research (e.g., experimental design, data analysis) and independent research competence; (2) a translational and interdisciplinary orientation taking students beyond their basic discipline and providing exposure to key theoretical concepts and methodological issues of the related behavioral sciences along with a bio-behavioral conceptualization; (3) professional development to support a career in SUDs research; (4) exploration of SUDs topics from a medical-behavioral perspective through courses offered by training faculty; and (5) opportunities for research around relevant questions in SUDs constituting a dissertation project for pre-doctoral trainees. The post- doctoral program is individually tailored to the objectives of the fellows and builds on their previous knowledge and experience, while drawing on these core elements. The need for a translational and interdisciplinary program such as the one proposed is greater today than ever before and fills a unique niche in substance abuse research.
The purpose of this application is to continue a highly successful 20-year training program in translational and interdisciplinary research on substance-use disorders and offers translational and interdisciplinary research training on bio-behavioral factors in substance-use disorders at the pre-doctoral and post-doctoral levels. Graduates of this program are actively involved in research, teaching, publishing articles, and becoming independent substance abuse researchers. We aim to continue this record of success in the next funding period because the need for a translational or interdisciplinary program is greater today than ever before, and the proposed training program fills a unique niche in drug abuse research.
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