This application requests a 5-year renewal of T32-AA07290 to support postdoctoral training in alcohol research at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) School of Medicine. Support is requested for 4 trainees per year. Two of the trainees will hold the M.D. degree and 2 will hold Ph.D. degrees. The typical duration of the training period will be 2 years. Postdoctoral training in alcohol research began at UCONN in October, 1980, with the award of a T32 Institutional Training Grant from NIAAA. Since that time, more than 46 persons (paid and unpaid fellows) from a variety of backgrounds (e.g., psychiatry, gastroenterology, psychology, anthropology, biophysics, economics, health services, neurobiology) have participated as trainees. The diverse training opportunities offered by our Program are consistent with the complex, multifactorial nature of alcoholism and the attendant need to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. This diversity is also consistent with the stated intent of an Institutional Training Award, which, by definition, supports research training across departmental and disciplinary lines. The Training Program is designed to provide trainees with a common knowledge base in alcohol theory, research design, data analysis strategies, ethical issues in preclinical and clinical research, and grantsmanship skills via a weekly seminar and other group meetings. In addition, more intensive individual training (concordant with the specialized interests of each trainee) is provided in such areas as neurobiology, genetic and family studies, neuro-imaging and neuropsychological studies of high risk and clinical populations, treatment research, diagnosis, epidemiology, health services research, and comorbid disorders (e.g., HIV, drug abuse, antisocial personality, pathological gambling), etc. In summarv, we believe that the Postdoctoral Training Program in Alcohol Research, affiliated with the UCONN Alcohol Research Center, offers a unique opportunity for the training of a future generation of alcohol researchers focusing on a variety of clinically relevant topics. Our record to date suggests that graduates of this program have been successful in manuscript and grant submissions, and are able to function effectively in a variety of settings relevant to alcohol research.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 179 publications
