The overall goal of this Mentored, Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) proposal is to enable Dr. McDevitt-Murphy to develop her career as a clinical scientist with a program of research in the development and evaluation of psychosocial interventions for co-occurring alcohol use disorders (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, she will focus on AUD-PTSD among veterans recently returned from deployments to overseas conflicts, a population at high risk for AUD-PTSD. Returning veterans with AUD-PTSD would likely benefit from a cognitive-behavioral skills-based treatment focused on both PTSD symptoms and alcohol abuse, with involvement by significant others/family members. To accomplish the goal of becoming an independent researcher pursuing this line of research, the candidate would use the 5-year K23 award to pursue a training plan and to conduct a pilot study with mentorship from experts in the field. The training plan is designed to meet the following objectives: 1) Develop expertise in the design and conduct of clinical trials, particularly as they relate to psychosocial interventions research;2) Develop expertise in research on AUD treatment;3) Develop expertise in research on interventions involving family or significant others;4) Enhance knowledge and skills related to PTSD research;5) Improve understanding of methodology and statistical analyses relevant to clinical trials;6) Acquire further training in the responsible conduct of research;7) Improve grant writing and manuscript preparation skills. Dr. McDevitt-Murphy will also conduct a 5-year research project designed to develop and pilot test a cognitive-behavioral skills based intervention for comorbid AUD-PTSD that includes involvement by family members/ significant others. During the first 24 months of the award, Dr. McDevitt-Murphy will develop the manual and test it in an open trial of 15 patients. Subsequently, Dr. McDevitt-Murphy will conduct a small, randomized trial comparing the experimental treatment to an individual coping skills treatment for AUD. These data will be collected to estimate an effect size so that a larger trial may be planned. Dr. McDevitt-Murphy will submit an R01 application in year 4 of this award to obtain funding for a full-scale clinical trial. The training and research plans will be carried out under the mentorship of Drs. M. Trade Shea, Peter M. Monti, Ivan W. Miller, and Caron Zlotnick, all faculty members at Brown University.
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