This revised renewal application requests 5 years of support for the Research Institute on Addictions Postdoctoral Training Program on Alcohol Etiology and Treatment. This interdisciplinary training program was established in 2000 and designed to provide six trainees with both general and individualized research training on the etiology and treatment of alcohol problems. The Core Faculty and Associated Faculty for the program include representation of such diverse yet complementary fields such as psychology (social, cognitive, educational, developmental, clinical), sociology, epidemiology, and the psychobiological sciences (clinical neuroscience, applied biopsychology, behavioral neuroscience). With this diverse faculty, we are able to provide trainees with a broad, yet deep, foundation of knowledge regarding the biological, psychological, and social aspects of alcohol use and alcohol use disorders. The program also provides training in ethical issues in research generally, as well as ethical issues specific to alcohol research. Critical aspects of grant writin, career development, and professional issues are also an important aspect of the training. The core of the program, which comprises approximately 80% of the trainees' time, is the individualized training in alcohol research in collaboration with a primary mentor, secondary mentor, and other faculty in the training program. This individualized training plan is developed by the trainee in collaboration with his/her mentor, and is based on the specific skills, interests and needs of the trainee. For all trainees, it includes development of manuscripts based on data collected in graduate school or other data available from their mentor or others at RIA. All individualized training plans also include grant development work, both for pilot grants as well as NIH submissions. Finally, it may also involve specialized statistical or methodological training, which may involve other faculty on the training grant, courses offered through the University at Buffalo, or through workshops or seminars offered at conferences or other universities. Over the 15 years of the training grant, the training program has become firmly established and the quality of the graduates has steadily grown. In the past ten years, 10 of the 20 trainees who have completed the program have assumed academic positions with colleges/universities, two have continued their research careers at RIA, and one is the Director of Research for an addiction center. Four of these trainees are currently at RIA, but will be assuming academic positions with universities this summer. Eight have received a career development or research grant award from NIH. During the period of their training, the group has published a median of six peer reviewed articles with the most recent graduates (last 5 years) having a median of eight.
Excessive alcohol use and alcohol use disorders have an enormous impact on public health, with annual costs in the U.S. estimated to be $223 billion, and the social costs ranging from family disruption to criminal justice are also immense. Alcohol use disorders reflect the interplay of neurobiology, genetics, psychology, and socio-cultural factors. This underscores the critical need for inter-disciplinary research to understand, develop, and test science-based approaches and the necessity of inter-disciplinary training for alcohol researchers in order to develop appropriate interdisciplinary approaches to reducing the harms from alcohol.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 92 publications
