This is an application for competitive renewal of an institutional training grant. The intent of this program is to prepare clinically trained MDs, MD/PhDs, and PhDs for a career in preclinical, clinical and translational research in mood, eating, or anxiety disorders. Physician trainees are eligible if they have completed the PGY 3 year of psychiatry training or PGY 4 year of neurology; psychology trainees are eligible if they have completed an APA approved clinical internship. The program is centered on mood, anxiety, and eating disorders, reflecting the ongoing and long-standing research interests of the core faculty involved in the program. Fellows work with a mentor who is a member of the Stanford University faculty for a period of two years on projects related to the phenomenology, clinical biology (including brain imaging), basic neuroscience (including optogenetics), and translational treatment outcomes in the three major classes of disorders. The Program includes formal seminars in research methodology, clinical research design and statistical analysis. Additionally, all fellows are required to take a course focused on ethics in medical research. Trainees also have access to a wide array of more specialized course work. Mentorship emphasizes development of an independent career and fellows are expected to design and conduct their own research projects and apply for their own funding to support their research post fellowship. An Executive Committee, representing the principal areas of research, provides program oversight including continual review of both the program and trainees' progress towards their individual goals. The program also offers summer stipends for medical students interested in psychiatric research. The Program is now in its 25th year. Fifty postgraduate trainees (12 MDs, 10 MD/PhDs and 28 PhDs) and 28 pre-doctoral summer medical students have been in the program in the past 15 years. Graduating fellows have been successful in obtaining faculty positions around the US and Canada, as well as in obtaining their own research funding?NIH Career Development Awards, R01s; NIMH Director Awards (e.g., Pioneer Awards), NARSAD Young Investigator Awards, Klingenstein Foundation Awards, etc. Six fellows left before completing the full 2 years: four accepted tenure line faculty positions and two segued into full-time clinical positions at community-based programs, such as the PAVA. Building on the success of our program in attaining its goals, we aim to continue to train promising clinically trained fellows to become independent mental health researchers.
Research training of clinically trained mental health researchers is particularly important in order to advance our understanding and treatment of mood, eating, and anxiety disorders, that are all extremely common and are often associated with great morbidity. Interdisciplinary research can help advance our understanding of these disorders and aid in prevention and treatment. Developing basic, clinical, and translational research skills is vital to achieve these goals.
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