Continuation of a training grant in psychiatric epidemiology is proposed. The training program is located in the Department of Mental Hygiene in the School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins University, and supported by core and associated faculty in the departments of mental hygiene, epidemiology, biostatistics, and psychiatry. Support for six predoctoral students and four postdoctoral fellows is requested. The program for predoctoral students involves 1 1/2 years of carefully structured course work in the departments of mental hygiene, epidemiology, and biostatistics, in the School of Public Health, and in psychiatry, in the School of Medicine; followed by examinations, and completing a thesis in 3 to 5 years. The program for postdoctoral fellows involves two years of research with strong mentorship by faculty. The intellectual environment is rich and there are many opportunities for research collaborations. Core faculty are leaders in the field and collaborate together on a variety of projects. Trainees have access to new and rich data sets such as the ECA followup, UNO-CAP, Prevention Center, and National Comorbidity Survey. Over the past ten years, more than 30 individuals have received support from the training grant. All former trainees continue to be active in the field of public dental health. All except one have published one or more scientific articles in the field of psychiatric epidemiology. Most former trainees are in academic positions, but there are some in government, private commercial, and non-profit agencies as well. Many trainees have obtained NIH or other grants as coinvestigator or principal investigator. Training opportunities for psychiatric epidemiologists in the department have expanded significantly since the last reviewed submission, and will continue to do so, due to new research projects, new complementary training programs, planned expansion of department faculty, and new emphasis on teaching within the School of Public Health. As a result the training program can take advantage of economies of scale to recruit more intensively and selectively, to teach more courses, and to offer better amenities for trainees, especially postdoctoral fellows. The training program continues to be a central aspect of the Department of Mental Hygiene, providing a critical mass of support for its core discipline of psychiatric epidemiology.
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