BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES TRAINING IN DRUG ABUSE RESEARCH

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Since its inception in 1984, the Behavioral Science Training in Drug Abuse Research Program (BST) has become one of the nation's largest NRSA training programs specializing in behavioral science research on drug abuse, AIDS, and crime. The BST program has trained 149 predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees-with nearly half of them being racial/ethnic minorities. This application requests authorization to maintain the current levels of appointments (7 postdoctoral and 9 predoctoral trainees) during each of Years 26 to 30. The BST program operates in a quasi-academic environment and is operated by three collaborating institutions: Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. (MHRA), the grant administrator; National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI), the training site; and the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) at Columbia University, the university affiliate. Dr. Bruce D. Johnson directs a core faculty of 46 leading researchers from MHRA, NDRI, and MSPH, who provide highly structured and rigorous training for BST trainees. The mission of the BST program is to prepare behavioral scientists, especially racial/ethnic minorities, for careers in drug abuse research and allied fields. This is accomplished by (1) recruiting and appointing promising scientists, about half from minority backgrounds, for traineeships; (2) providing advanced training in substantive topics and theory, research methods and practices, and the ethical conduct of research; and (3) mentoring and advising trainees. In addition to a variety of weekly seminars and workshops, trainees participate regularly in supervised research-ample opportunities exist on well over 200 Federal grants/contracts of BST core faculty-and they conduct their own independent research. This application includes two new features: a strengthened, required grant writing workshop, and an interdisciplinary training component in biobehavioral research. The BST program's long-standing success is evident in the significant contributions of 137 graduates (including 43 predoctoral trainees who have received their doctorates, with 9 in progress) and 14 current fellows. Many former trainees have distinguished themselves through their research and publications-the number of publications by current and former BST trainees is estimated at over 1,000. BST trainees have received as Pis 22 grants from NIH, been Co-investigators on more than 40 NIH-funded projects, and obtained over 80 grants from other Federal, state, and private funding sources.