NRSA Training: Psychiatric-Medical Comorbidity in Aging

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a renewal application for an interdisciplinary program of postdoctoral research training with foci on aging, geriatric psychiatry, the comorbidity of psychiatric and medical disorders and the delivery of mental health care in general medical and long term care settings. It is a component of an NIMH-supported Advanced Center for Interventions and Services Research. The program is administered through the Section on Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania with participation of faculty from other programs in Psychiatry, and from Medicine, Family Practice, and Epidemiology/Biostatistics. The faculty consists of a Core group who are working intensively on research related to the mission of the program, an Associated group of clinician investigators who enrich the program, and a translational group of clinical neuroscientists who will be active as co-mentors. The goals of the program are to prepare MD and PhD trainees to function as independent investigators and/or as investigators able to develop an independent line of investigation in the context of larger scale, multicenter studies. It will consider applicants with MD and PhD degrees who are committed to careers in intervention research. The fellowship will admit 2-4 fellows/year for 2-3 years of training with a focus on supervised research experiences complemented by formal coursework, workshops, and tutorials. All fellows will participate in the University's Patient Oriented Research Training core, and training in the ethical conduct of research. MD's without prior formal research training will participate in the MS program in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) or an equivalent program. For each fellow, the experience will be guided by an individualized training plan, developed by the trainee and a mentor from the Core faculty and approved by the steering committee. Progress will be monitored both within the program and by external consultants/advisors. The training opportunities within this program span the breadth of intervention research ranging from randomized clinical trials/efficacy studies, through effectiveness studies to practice and services research, as well as translational research. The program arises from a faculty that is actively involved in research on the mental disorders of the elderly, a group in which psychiatric-medical comorbidity is the rule, and on mental health and mental disorders in primary and specialty medical care settings. The support sought through this program will make an array of resources available for trainees including those of Penn's NIMH-supported Advanced Center for Interventions and Services Research other enabling resources, and an extensive portfolio of research grants.