Career Development Program in Substance Use and Addiction Medicine

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Project Summary Training the next generation of clinician-investigators to conduct transformational, independent, patient- oriented addiction research that will improve the lives of those with addictive disorders is of the highest public health importance and is the primary goal of this MGH K12 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award in Drug Abuse and Addiction renewal application. This renewal will support and strengthen a multidisciplinary 2-3 year program of intensive training, mentored research, and dedicated career development mentorship for diverse, talented, post-doctoral clinician-scientists committed to independent research careers in patient- oriented addiction research provided in the rich training environment of addiction research laboratories based at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), with advanced didactic training opportunities at MGH, McLean Hospital, and Harvard Medical School (HMS). These resources will continue to be individually tailored to each scholar’s interests in order to provide the focused, concentrated training and mentorship experience to optimally advance each Scholar’s productive, independent, impactful addiction-focused work, preparing them for leadership roles in clinical and academic medicine, government and industry. Career development support in the renewal will be bolstered by collaboration with a new national consortium of NIDA K12 scholars and mentors. Eden Evins, MD, MPH, and Nancy Rigotti, MD, will partner again as joint-PIs to lead the career development program renewal, supervising scholars’ research and career development, academic productivity, and progress to independence in patient-oriented addiction research. They are committed to attracting a diverse group of superb clinically-trained scholars, guided by an expanded Executive Committee and a 3- member Advisory Board of experienced leaders of successful postgraduate medical training programs to identify, recruit, retain and foster the career development of underrepresented in medicine (UiM) Scholar candidates. The mPIs are HMS Professors in the Departments of Psychiatry (Dr. Evins) and Medicine (Dr. Rigotti). They and their departments have a long history of productive collaboration and a shared vision for expanding a diverse, independent clinical addiction research workforce. The program has strong institutional support from MGH leadership. Dr. Evins’ and Rigotti’s co-leadership ensures that K12 scholars have access to a multi-departmental program of multi-disciplinary training. The mentoring plan includes training scholars to 1) acquire the research skills needed to design and implement clinical studies in addiction medicine; 2) prepare scientific papers and presentations; 3) write successful grant applications; 4) conduct research responsibly, and 5) launch independent careers in patient-oriented addiction research. They will accomplish this with tailored course work, individual and group meetings, collaborative mentoring, and role modeling integrated with the rich mentoring resources available through the MGH Division of Clinical Research and the Harvard Catalyst (CTSC) Program.