The purpose of this grant is to provide support for the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) at Brown University, Providence, RI, to host the 2011 NIAAA Training Directors Meeting on September 23, 2011, and the 2011 NIAAA Trainee Workshop on September 24-25, 2011. This application for an R13 NIH Conference Grant responds to PA-10-071 which provides a mechanism for convening high quality conferences, scientific meetings, and workshops that advance the scientific mission of the NIH and ultimately benefit public health. Since 1999, the NIAAA Training Directors Meeting and Trainee Workshop have been held on a biennial basis. There have been a total of six meetings to date;the first five were held at Indiana University and the most recent was held at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. The current proposal has been prompted by an invitation from NIAAA to host the next meeting in the fall of 2011;upon accepting, we were directed to prepare this R13 Conference Grant application for this purpose. As required by the R13 mechanism, we have requested and received advance permission to submit this application;the letter from NIAAA documenting advance permission is included in the Cover Letter component of this application. Further, we have consulted with Dr. Mariela Shirley while preparing this application. The objectives of this meeting and workshop are to promote NIAAA staff interaction with training directors to optimize operation of the training programs, and to bring together trainees throughout the alcohol research/training community to facilitate interactions with senior researchers and NIAAA staff, develop future training and research opportunities, and to provide trainees with information on funding opportunities and career advancement. These objectives will be met with the following specific activities: 1) training directors will meet with NIAAA staff to review T32 policies and discuss operational recommendations to facilitate training success;2) training directors, NIAAA staff, and trainees will convene for formal plenary scientific lectures on themes relevant to the NIAAA mission;3) Dr. Kenneth Warren, NIAAA Acting Director, will provide an update on NIH activities and NIAAA initiatives;4) NIAAA staff will lead participate in activities to promote the professional development of trainees, including a lecture on grants opportunities throughout the career path at NIAAA, and a mock IRG meeting;5) trainees will make presentations on their current research either as plenary lecture in a series of paper sessions, or during a poster session. Trainee abstracts will be submitted in advance and subjected to peer-review;travel support will be provided to 45 trainees based on this competitive process. Travel expenses for those trainees selected to participate in the trainee workshop will be provided by this grant. The scientific program will reflect the broad diversity of research conducted at NIAAA T32 training programs nationally and will balance the proportion of research presented across the continuum from """"""""bench to bedside"""""""" and will emphasize translational approaches to achieving scientific innovation and public health impact.
The NIAAA Training Directors Meeting and Trainee Workshop occur on a biennial basis to bring together NIAAA staff with Training Directors to enhance operation of the training programs consistent with NIAAA mission and priorities, and to bring together NIAAA trainees with Training Directors and NIAAA staff to develop future training and research opportunities. This meeting will cut across the fields of basic biological sciences, epidemiology and etiology, prevention, clinical and public health research and will emphasize translational approaches to increasing innovation and public health impact of alcohol research;opportunities for new insights and collaborations have the potential to accelerate the pace of science in the field of alcohol research.
