In collaboration with a nationwide consortium of experts in intervention research, the University of Rochester Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide (UR/CSPS) proposes to create a postdoctoral training program in suicide prevention research. There is a critical shortage of clinical researchers trained in population oriented, public health approaches. Suicide is a major public health problem, and an area in which the lack of rigorously trained prevention scientists is particularly acute. The objective of the CSPS training program is to develop a cadre of young investigators with the knowledge and skills necessary to establish careers as outstanding independent investigators in the area of suicide prevention. The CSPS training program will admit three postdoctoral fellows each year to a three year training sequence. Each fellows' first year (Phase 1) will be taken at the University of Rochester where a coordinated series of courses, seminars, and mentored research experiences will provide him/her with a firm foundation in the theories and methods of clinical intervention research and suicidology (Aim 1). The second and third years of fellowship training (Phase 2) will be taken at the University of Rochester and/or off-site in the laboratory of a program-affiliated national faculty mentor.
The aim of Phase 2 training is for the fellow to gain expertise in the design and rigorous scientific study of specific intervention approaches through sustained and intensive mentored research experiences (Aim 2). Each site will focus on specific methodologies with potential application to preventive interventions with high-risk populations. The training curriculum includes elements specifically designed to foster communication between faculty and trainees of different disciplines and theoretical and empirical approaches (Aim 3). Its consortium design will facilitate recruitment on a national scale of highly qualified trainees committed to careers in clinical investigations, and constitute a bridge between graduate studies and independent investigator status (Aim 4). A rigorous evaluation plan will closely track the performance of each trainee as well as assess the program's success over the longer term in preparing its graduates for careers in intervention research in general and suicide prevention studies in particular (Aim 5).
Showing the most recent 10 out of 127 publications
