This research training program in alcohol and injury is an interdisciplinary effort of the Departments of Health Policy and Management, Epidemiology, Mental Hygiene, and International Health in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, with collaborating faculty from the School of Nursing and from the Departments of Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation in the School of Medicine. The goal is to provide predoctoral students with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to make scientific contributions to the understanding and prevention of alcohol-related trauma or injury, including violence as well as unintentional injury, with emphasis on high-risk populations. Trainees will receive training in quantitative and qualitative research methods; social and cultural aspects of alcohol and injury problems; behavioral, legal, and environmental approaches; economic implications of alcohol/injury problems and related countermeasures; and the scientific basis for policy development and evaluation. The program includes required courses as well as electives tailored to the individual trainee's needs and interests; a weekly graduate seminar addressing relevant and timely issues; mentoring by faculty members with similar interests; opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary research on alcohol and injury; and guided supervision in applying for external research funding. Emphasis will be placed upon close mentorship of trainees and collaborative research. Advisors to the trainees will include a Program Director, Associate Director, and 11 other faculty preceptors whose contributions relevant to alcohol and/or trauma research are nationally recognized. Eleven associated faculty members with expertise in related areas will be available to trainees with relevant research interests, provide data resources and research opportunities, serve on thesis committees, and contribute to the graduate seminars. The program aims to develop creative and independent investigators, well prepared to contribute to amelioration of alcohol-related injury.
