This proposal requests support for the second renewal of a highly successful, integrative pre-doctoral training program in the neuroscience of drug abuse at Indiana University Bloomington. Despite substantial advances in understanding drug addiction within specific levels of analysis (e.g., behavioral, clinical, and molecular), the problem of drug abuse will not be solved by focusing on a single level of analysis. If the next generation of researchers is to make meaningful progress, they must be well-rounded scientists with an appreciation that drug abuse is a multi-faceted problem, while possessing the flexibility to respond to and incorporate rapidly evolving technologies that will enable them to understand mechanisms and develop treatments for drug abuse. To prepare trainees for success in the next decade and beyond, our program emphasizes a team-driven, inter- disciplinary approach based on the translational model. Our program is successful because it brings together 12 core faculty members who are committed to integrative training and have a long history of collaboration on questions integral to drug abuse research. They include senior and junior investigators, molecular neurobiologists, cognitive neuroscientists, epidemiologists, and clinical scientists. They come from several departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public Health, and all have joint appointments in the campus-wide Program in Neuroscience. Working together in state-of-the-art facilities, this group has access to a pool of highly talented trainees motivated to pursue careers in drug abuse research. Our training program develops trainees by emphasizing three key components: integrative course work, translational research training, and professional skills development. Course work covers basic neuro- and psychopharmacology, provides an integrative view of biobehavioral processes in substance use disorders, and brings a translational perspective to theoretical and empirical knowledge. Research is guided by a mentor in molecular, systems, cognitive, or clinical neuroscience closely integrated with a co-mentor representing a complimentary level of analysis. This integrative approach is reinforced through discussion groups, attendance at colloquia, and participation at national meetings. Instruction in ethical scientific behavior includes formal course work and campus workshops as well as specialized instruction led by a core faculty member who has many years of experience leading seminars on ethical issues unique to substance use research. Trainees also learn to develop skills in grant writing, manuscript preparation, teaching, and community outreach and organize an annual program retreat with outside experts in drug abuse. In short, our program relies on a combination of course work and research training aimed at integrating and translating bench and bedside approaches to produce scientists well prepared for productive and transformative careers in drug abuse research.
Continuing support for our integrative pre-doctoral training program in the neuroscience of drug abuse will ensure a cohort of researchers who are well prepared to develop, study and evaluate new treatments for the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional problem of drug abuse. Trainees integrate experimental approaches from neuroscience, psychology, and population health in their coursework and research training to optimize their preparation for careers in drug abuse.
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