This five-year competitive resubmission application requests four predoctoral positions and two postdoctoral positions to continue our """"""""Pharmacology of Drug Abuse"""""""" Training Program. The objective of the training program is to train scientists for careers as independent investigators in the field of drug abuse research. This training program was initiated in 1985. The 13 program faculty members represent several departments, including Biochemistry and Biophysics, Environmental Medicine, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Neurology, and Pharmacology and Physiology. The research activities of the program faculty represent five training areas: AIDS Pharmacology and Drugs of Abuse, Behavioral Pharmacology, Biochemical Pharmacology, Molecular Pharmacology, and Clinical Pharmacology. During the past five years, we have strengthened our training related to AIDS, particularly NeuroAIDS, and HIV-1 replication. The training program recruited Dr. Robert Bambara, Professor of Biochemistry, and an international expert on HIV-1 replication to be part of this training program. Drs. Harris Gelbard and Stephen Dewhurst are experts in NeuroAIDS and in novel approaches toward preventing HIV-1 replication in immunocytes. Our trainees are being exposed to and are participating in AIDS-related research. Predoctoral trainees are recruited from the pool of first-year students in the interdisciplinary Graduate Education in Biomedical Sciences program. Trainees do not select a major subject until the end of their first year of study;hence, all eligible first-year students are potential candidates for support. The training program includes course work, original laboratory research, and participation in Drug Abuse Seminar Series and Colloquium. Predoctoral trainees are required to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in their major department or program and to satisfy the curricular requirements of the training program. Postdoctoral fellows are recruited by individual faculty members, by our web site, and by the use of NIDA's web site. Enrichment activities in addition to the Seminar Series include the Pharmacological Sciences Day, which includes guest speakers and poster presentations. Trainees present research findings at national scientific meetings. This Training Program has served and will continue to serve as the focus for the training and research activities in drug abuse within the University and surrounding community.
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