Alcohol Research Training in Neurosciences

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PROJECT SUMMARY This is a competitive renewal application for an Alcohol Training Program in Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico (UNM-ARTN). This program is currently ending Year 19 of support, and has increased visibility of alcohol research across campus. Since 2003, the UNM-ARTN grant has supported 30 trainees, 10 in the past 5 years. Over the past 5 years, we have filled all our training slots and trainees have been well distributed among the training faculty. The objective of the UNM-ARTN is to support the training of young researchers and provide them with in-depth knowledge of different areas of alcohol research and multiple technical approaches to tackle important questions in this field. UNM-ARTN program provides training in molecular biological, biochemical, electrophysiologic, imaging, and behavioral approaches to 4 Ph.D. students per year, and at this point, 93% of former trainees have obtained their Ph.D. degrees. The Training Faculty has strengths in three areas of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder research: 1. Basic mechanisms involved in ethanol neuro-teratogenesis; 2. Biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure; and 3. Therapeutic interventions to ameliorate FASD-related cognitive deficits. New initiatives including a Trainee Orientation Program, an expanded UNM-ARTN Research Seminar and increased collaboration across training program at UNM will promote skills development and successful transitions into competitive postdoctoral fellowships and careers in the biomedical research workforce. A total of 15 faculty members (9 men and 6 women) from the Departments of Neurosciences, , Pharmaceutical Sciences and Psychology will serve as Core Faculty. All are funded via R00, R01 or P50 mechanisms, are highly productive; have a track record of successful research mentoring or strong mentor training; and have extensive collaborative interactions in terms of research grants, publications, and mentoring of graduate students. Predoctoral trainees will be drawn from the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program of the UNM Health Sciences Center and the Cognition, Brain and Behavior Program of the UNM Psychology Department. The program will continue to support 4 Ph.D. students per year, typically for a 2-3-year period. The program will be overseen by Drs. Brigman and Clark, who will ensure trainees are well supported in both the BSGP and CBB programs, a Steering Committee composed of selected members of the Training Faculty and a student representative, and Internal and External Advisory Committees. Our diverse trainees have been very successful in presenting at scientific meetings, and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. To date, they have obtained 12 predoctoral fellowships/minority supplements, and 1 more is pending review. Most of our former trainees have gone on to pursue careers in biomedical research or postdoctoral training at research-intensive programs Our goal is to continue to provide promising graduate students with the necessary high-quality training to prepare them for a successful future career in alcohol research.