The proposal reflects the continuation and evolution of an alcohol training program in operation since 1971, which has provided 253 fellows with training and support. Its chief goal is to continue to support a program designed to embark trainees on a path of active research in alcohol studies, by offering applicants with substantial backgrounds in epidemiology, health, social or policy sciences the opportunity to carry out their own research immersed in a collegial and interactive environment of researchers and faculty actively working in epidemiological and health services research on alcohol. The essence of the program lies in each fellow's opportunity to learn from an intensive period of residence and involvement in the research training, research staffs, and research activities of Training Program Faculty at the two primary collaborating institutions: the Alcohol Research Group (a National Alcohol Research Center) and the School of Public Health (at UC Berkeley). ARG has as its foci of research the social epidemiology of alcohol problems and the conduct of alcohol-related health services research. Training Grant Faculty from nearby secondary collaborating institutions (UCSF Dept. of Psychiatry, Kaiser Division of Research, and UCSF Institute for Health Policy) provide additional educational, mentorship, and research opportunities that complement and extend those at ARG and UC Berkeley. A group of 4 postdoctoral and 3 pre-doctoral fellows are supported by this program each year, with most in residence for 2 years. Pre-doctoral fellows complete an alcohol-related dissertation and postdoctoral fellows conduct a publishable research project. Fellows are advised and actively mentored by Training Grant Faculty. All trainees attend and contribute to a weekly Advanced Alcohol Research Seminar that is part of the fall and spring curriculum at the School of Public Health and includes instruction in the responsible conduct of research. Other program components include graduate courses at UC Berkeley, topic- specific working groups at ARG, and a grantwriting seminar for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows. Research topics reflect our Training Program's focus on the incidence, prevalence and etiology of alcohol use disorders and alcohol-related problems - their distribution (by gender and by ethnicity), their behavioral antecedents, their identification and handling by health services (formal and informal), and their public health and policy implications.
The Graduate Research Training on Alcohol Problems has been in operation since 1971, and has provided research training in critical areas of alcohol studies to 253 fellows with backgrounds in epidemiology, health, and social sciences. Because of its complexity and interrelationships with so many aspects of society and domains of study, the field of alcohol research is challenging for the typical student entering a doctoral program, and for the recent doctoral graduate with expressed interest. The present proposal describes a coherent, rigorous program of training in the alcohol field that fills this gap, particularly in regard to research on social epidemiology, alcohol health services, health disparities, public health and alcohol policy.
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