Interdisciplinary Training in Behavioral Pain Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks to establish an Interdisciplinary Training in Biobehavioral Pain Research Program at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI). Pain is one of the most common symptoms in our society, a highly complex phenomenon including emotional and cognitive responses in concert with the neurophysiology and genetic milieu of the organism. The treatment of pain remains inadequate in almost every clinical situation and, as a result, demands the training of the next generation of interdisciplinary pain researchers to address the challenge of developing, evaluating, disseminating, and integrating effective pain treatments into clinical care. The overarching goal of the proposed postdoctoral program is to prepare fellows to work cooperatively within an interdisciplinary research team to address the complex problem of pain by integrating two or more areas of expertise - behavioral/social science, biomedical science or clinical research. Our Core faculty includes 7 behavioral scientists, 4 clinical researchers and 7 biomedical researchers. Each Core faculty member is actively funded by NIH, engaged in the education and training of young investigators, and committed to interdisciplinary collaboration. The Program incorporates both required and elective coursework, mentored research experiences in at least two areas of expertise in addition to the individual integrated research project, extramural grant application, and experience in writing and publishing papers. The learning objectives for postdoctoral fellows are: (1) to understand broad conceptualizations of pain including, but not limited to cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social and biological processes; (2) to develop skills for communicating, networking and collaborating with scientists in other disciplines; (3) to design and conduct an integrative study of pain as a primary symptom; and (4) to develop a career plan for an integrative program of research in the area of pain. Each fellow is to be collaboratively mentored by two Core faculty, each representing a different area of expertise in behavioral/social science, biomedical or clinical research. The JHMI campus provides a rich array of existing training programs with which fellows can interact. Our goal is to prepare the next generation of pain scientists to lead interdisciplinary research teams addressing the problem of pain using integrative research paradigms.