This resubmission of K01 DA024113-01 outlines a five-year research career development program to enhance Dr. Wang's initial success in making a major career shift from a successful administrator of intervention development to an independent scientist in substance abuse epidemiology research. The candidate has a track record of success in developing innovative programs that cross-fertilize the fields of substance abuse treatment and early intervention. For the past two years, the candidate has gained the basic skills in theory, research and publication necessary to move toward a career goal as a researcher. The proposed K01 Award serves as a training vehicle to enable the candidate to achieve independence in substance abuse epidemiological research, focusing on the understudied relation between environmental risk and prenatal cocaine exposure and its impact on development in preadolescence. The objectives of the development training are to develop: (1) advanced knowledge of developmental epidemiology of """"""""at risk"""""""" populations, (2) advanced skills in research and statistical strategies with longitudinal studies, and (3) academic skills in scientific communication. The candidate will be supported by two premier research institutes: The Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University and the Institute for the Study of Child Development (ISCD) at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Michael Lewis (Director of ISCD), a renowned scholar in developmental research of at risk children, will be the primary mentor. The proposed study will use the transactional multi-risk model to address Specific Aims: (i) to characterize the nature of environmental risk;(ii) to examine developmental outcomes at age 10 as a function of environmental risk and prenatal cocaine exposure;and (iii) to delineate mediating and moderating effects of environmental risk on developmental outcomes in preadolescence as a function of prenatal cocaine exposure. It will use NIDA funded 15-year study on prenatal cocaine exposure (Dr. Lewis, PI) to explore this conceptual model. The completion of this K01 Award will lead the candidate to secure NIDA R01 grants as PI to test the relations between the pattern of change in environmental risk, the developmental pathways of behavioral regulation, and risk taking and substance use behaviors in early adolescence. This research has significant implications for improving intervention by identifying at-risk environments and thus to improve pubic health.
