Research Training Program in Substance Abuse Prevention

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Project Summary/Abstract This renewal application requests continued support for the Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Substance Abuse Prevention at Yale University. The host site for the program will continue to be the Division of Prevention and Community Research in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, along with two primary partner sites in Psychiatry: the Division of Addictions and the Yale Stress Center. In addition, the program will continue to draw on faculty in three other Yale sites: Women's Health Research at Yale, the Yale School of Public Health, and the Yale Child Study Center. Faculty have a strong track record of scholarship in substance abuse prevention and longstanding collaborations as researchers and mentors. This application builds on the success of our current training program originally funded by NIDA in 2005 and renewed in 2010 and 2015. Our request for renewal funding is based on the continuing demand for advanced training in rigorous, interdisciplinary, community-based translational research focused on substance abuse prevention. The program trains six postdoctoral fellows across two years: 1) to understand drug abuse and addiction and related behaviors within an ecological framework that emphasizes relevant developmental, family, social, cultural, and neurobiological contexts; 2) to enhance knowledge in pre-intervention, implementation, and dissemination research; 3) to learn state-of-the-art data analytic methods that incorporate rigorous field and laboratory research methods, including mixed method designs; 4) to gain experience in interdisciplinary research through collaborations with scientists working in interdisciplinary teams across departments, centers, and programs; and 5) to increase knowledge about the translation of research into real-world contexts in order to impact prevention practice and policy, and ultimately, public health. These program objectives are reinforced in mentored relationships with two scientific advisors, didactic seminars, and individually-tailored experiences based on each fellow’s Individual Development Plan. The training aligns with NIDA research objectives and cross-cutting priorities. Over the past 14 years, the program has enrolled 38 fellows, who have virtually gone on to careers as prevention scientists. More than three-quarters are faculty in academic settings, and others are employed as prevention scientists in interdisciplinary research organizations. The program has also been successful in training fellows from diverse backgrounds; 26% identify as an underrepresented racial/ethnic minority and 13% identify as other racial/ethnic minorities.