STRESS AND THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDE

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This is a new application for the formal establishment of a training effort for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the area of Stress and the Neurobiology of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Support is requested for two postdoctoral fellows and two predoctoral students yearly, with a maximum of four students and four fellows at any given time. Predoctoral trainees will be graduates of a four-year program in chemistry, biology, psychology or a related discipline. These students will receive a doctoral degree in Pharmacology upon completion of the Training Program. Postdoctoral fellows will be recruited from among individuals who received their doctoral degrees in pharmacology, psychology or psychobiology. Although the department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics has a long and continuing tradition of collaboration, the creation of a NIDA-supported Training Program will greatly enhance our ability to successfully attract and train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in drug abuse research. Students and fellows will have access to training in a wide variety of areas through the diverse, multi-disciplinary interests of the faculty serving as preceptors for this Training Program as well as through the highly collaborative nature of ongoing projects. This will enable them to acquire new techniques and information in areas of research other than those in which they are working directly. Predoctoral students will take a series of courses designed to provide them with a broad understanding of pharmacology with special emphasis on research in the general area of stress and the neurobiology of drug and alcohol dependence. This Program is structured to permit flexibility based on the particular needs and career plans of each individual student. The majority of each postdoctoral time is spent conducting research in the laboratory(s) of his/her preceptor(s) of his/her preceptor(s), with the inclusion of any didactic work individualized for each trainee. In addition, all trainees participate in a grant writing workshop designed to fine tune grant writing skills and to instruct the trainees in the critical evaluation of research proposals. The primary goal of this Training Program is to provide students and young scientists with comprehensive guidance in stress and drug abuse research.