Training Grant
A predoctoral and postdoctoral training program in the Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience (CNN) of drug abuse was awarded to AMC CNN by NIDA. This five year program consists of funding for 3 predoctoral and 2 postdoctoral trainees per year phased in over two years. Faculty participation is comprised of a) 14 training faculty who serve as mentors and who are either funded by NIDA or whose research programs can provide training relevant to drug abuse problems, and b) 5 resource faculty who contribute to the program via teaching or laboratory training. Approximately 27,500 square feet of laboratory space, a wide array of state-of-the-art chemical, physiological and behavioral testing equipment, and approximately $3,000,000 of federally sponsored research funds are designated annually for the research of the training faculty. The program for predoctoral trainees consists of a comprehensive neuropharmacology/neuroscience didactic curriculum as well as required research projects in three laboratories before choosing a mentor and developing a thesis project. Both predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees will be required to attend an annual seminar program consisting of presentations by 20 invited speakers; they will also participate in a journal club designed to teach trainees how to present effectively written research for publication and how to critique the published literature on drug abuse. Each trainee is required to present a one hour research seminar annually as well. The curriculum designed specifically for this training program includes two new courses, the Biology of Addiction and a course focusing on the treatment of addiction as well as the effects of prenatal drug exposure. This training provides a multifaceted approach to understanding mechanisms of abused drugs and to developing new agents for treating addiction and dependence through an integrated program of didactic work and an outstanding in-depth research experience. All trainees are required to attend a course on research ethics. Predoctoral training is expected to last approximately 5 years; postdoctoral training duration is 2-3 years. All aspects of the program are administered by the CNN director and an executive committee of training faculty.
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