Research Training for Child Psychiatry and Neurodevelopment

这个申请代表了一个非常成功的机构博士后培训补助金的竞争性更新

This application represents a competitive renewal of a highly-successful institutional postdoctoral training grant based in Stanford's Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR), under the direction of Dr. Allan Reiss. The training program is situated within an exceptionally diverse and research-intensive environment that is designed to facilitate the development of a new-generation of investigators who have the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct innovative, interdisciplinary research at the forefront of child psychiatry and neurodevelopment. Physician (MD, PhD) and PhD candidates who have the potential to develop highly productive preclinical, clinical or translational research careers are preferentially recruited and accepted into the program. Physician candidates are eligible if they have completed at least three years of psychiatry, pediatrics or neurology training and/or wish to combine the T32 program with their current clinical residency or fellowship training. PhD candidates are eligible if they have completed their doctorate with distinction in relevant fields including psychology, neuroscience and computational (data) sciences. Candidates who articulate a strong desire to further develop their expertise, experience and productivity to address critical precision medicine themes in pediatric neuropsychiatry and neurodevelopment are preferentially selected. The program is now in its 26th year. Twenty-nine postgraduate trainees (5 MDs, 2 MD/PhDs and 22 PhDs) have been in the program in the past 15 years. We successfully attained all predefined metrics during the current grant period. The program attracted a very large pool of first-rate applicants (n=75), filled all funded slots (four per year, total of 10 fellows through May 2020), retained all trainees for 2-3 years (except one fellow who is joining the faculty after one year), and prepared trainees for successful careers as independent investigators. We also continue to diversify the assignment of mentors and consider co-mentorship the “norm”. Though topically-focused, the scientific scope of the program is broad, with basic, clinical and translational research- oriented fellows. Several new junior mentors (who will “partner” with senior mentors) have been added, including three faculty who are graduates of Stanford postdoctoral fellowships. We remain committed to attracting trainees who come from an underrepresented minority background (two of 10 in the current period). During the next 5-year grant period, we will train an additional 9-11 fellows. Plans to increase MD or MD/PhD recruitment from the current 2 of 10 fellows have been established. To meet our goal of significantly expanding the knowledge base and methods of each trainee, we will continue to establish individually tailored didactic, mentorship and research plans for each fellow while promoting cross-fertilization of scientific knowledge across the trainee class. Using this approach, we focus the trainee's curriculum and research training on bridging traditional, between-discipline gaps in methodology, and on focusing on the application of interdisciplinary solutions to complex precision medicine issues in child psychiatry and neurodevelopment.