Fellowship in Biological Psychiatry & Neuroscience

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案请求继续NIMH资助加州大学圣地亚哥分校“生物精神病学和神经科学奖学金”，T32-MH18399。这个项目代表了加州大学圣地亚哥分校心理健康研究培训的悠久传统。该计划的成功体现在其学员在出版物、主要奖项和后续资金方面的卓越生产力上。仅在最近的项目期间，学员就获得了五项NARSAD青年研究员奖，三项NIH k系列培训补助金，以及其他几项国家奖项。此外，所有最近的项目毕业生都发表了第一作者同行评议的研究论文，报告了他们的奖学金工作，几乎所有人都继续从事全职学术研究工作。对这类培训项目的需求是深远的。科学界和知情的公众都希望并期待最近在基础神经科学和遗传学方面的重大进展，如活体人脑的功能成像和基因组计划，将导致对精神障碍的理解和治疗取得突破。然而，复杂的研究技术需要多年的训练才能掌握，并且缺乏能够使用这些方法来了解精神疾病病因并将基本发现转化为新疗法的研究人员，这可能会阻碍其潜力的实现。尤其令人担忧的是，缺乏受过必要训练的临床科学家，他们既能在生物精神病学的前沿工作，又能将科学成果转化为新的治疗方法。在接下来的项目期间，项目的具体目标是：1)使用特定的招聘策略保持和提高项目学员的种族和学术多样性。2)促进精神科医生、临床心理学家和基础神经科学家之间的交流，促进创新。从项目开始到整个培训过程中，对导师分配、研究项目和学员进度进行系统的监督。4)提供一个强大的核心研究教学，但量身定制的要求，以满足每个学员的具体需求。5)提供职业发展“生存技能”方面的持续教育和指导，以促进受训者向独立研究职业的过渡。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests continued NIMH funding for the University of California, San Diego "Fellowship in Biological Psychiatry and Neuroscience", T32-MH18399. This program represents a long tradition in mental health research training at UCSD. The success of the program is demonstrated by the remarkable productivity of its trainees in terms of publications, major awards, and subsequent funding. In the most recent project period alone, trainees have received five NARSAD Young Investigator awards, three NIH K-series training grants, and several other national prizes. Furthermore, all recent program graduates have published first-authored peer-reviewed research papers reporting their Fellowship work, and nearly all continue to work in full-time academic research positions. The need for training programs of this kind is profound. Both the scientific community and the informed public hope and expect that major recent advances in basic neuroscience and genetics, such as functional imaging of the living human brain and the genome project, will lead to breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of mental disorders. However, complex research technologies take years of training to master, and a lack of researchers who can use these methods to understand the etiology of psychiatric disorders, and transform basic findings into new therapies, could prevent their potential from being realized. Especially problematic is a lack of clinician-scientists who have the training necessary to work at the forefront of biological psychiatry and also translate scientific achievements into new treatments. In the coming project period, the specific goals of the program are: 1) Maintain and improve both the ethnic and the academic diversity of the program trainees using specific recruitment strategies. 2) Foster innovation by promoting exchange between a dynamic mix of psychiatric physicians, clinical psychologists and basic neuroscientists. 3) Provide systematic oversight of mentor assignments, research projects, and trainee progress beginning prior to program entry and continuing throughout training. 4) Provide a strong core of research didactics, yet tailor requirements to meet the specific needs of each trainee. 5) Provide continual education and mentorship in career development "survival skills" which will foster the trainees' transitions to independent research careers.