NIDA Epidemiology Training Program: Johns Hopkins University

描述（由申请人提供）：NIDA药物依赖流行病学培训计划旨在增加将药物依赖流行病学作为其主要终身职业的专家科学家的数量和质量，特别侧重于应用先进的统计方法来设计和分析流行病学研究数据和所有形式的研究传播。现在是NIDA竞争性地重新提供支持的第十四个年头，该提案要求再提供五年的支持。博士预科生通过完成必修课程、实习研究、实地调查和考试，然后完成论文研究和答辩，获得博士学位。博士后受训者完成一个个性化的研究培训项目，通常持续两年，重点是与两名或更多的项目教师进行研究合作，以汇集第一作者，发表的科学文章和职业发展计划。研究培训计划保留了先前批准的培训计划中的教育和研究相关元素，并根据研究培训过程中积累的经验进行了改进。最近的发展包括：(a)扩大由美国国家药物开发协会资助的药物依赖流行病学专业核心教员；(b)因此增加了以药物依赖流行病学为重点的课程和研究见习机会；(c)利用实验科学方法增加核心教员；(d)实施新的培训举措，以促进研究员在培训期间建立第一作者发表的记录。我们还重申了我们的承诺，即在全国范围内由教员推动的培训项目中招募代表性不足的少数族裔。药物依赖领域目前面临的一些挑战是我们这个时代所独有的，因此，实验科学的进步现在为将遗传实验室方法纳入流行病学领域研究提供了基础。其他挑战是长期存在的，持续需要进行精心设计的研究，以帮助确定易导致药物依赖的生物和环境因素，并制定有经验支持的药物预防方法。约翰霍普金斯大学的培训计划通过培养能够将先进的流行病学和生物统计学方法应用于药物依赖研究的专家科学家，为迎接这些挑战做好了准备。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The NIDA Drug Dependence Epidemiology Training Program is designed to increase the number and quality of expert scientists who identify drug dependence epidemiology as their major lifelong career, with a special focus on the application of advanced statistical methods to the design and analysis of epidemiologic study data and all forms of research dissemination. Now in its fourteenth year of competitively renewed support by NIDA, this proposal is for an additional five years of support. Pre-doctoral trainees earn the Ph.D. degree by completing required course work, research apprenticeships, field research, and examinations followed by the completion of thesis research and defense. Post-doctoral trainees complete an individualized program of research training, typically lasting two years, focusing on research collaboration with two-or-more program faculty to assemble a portfolio of first-authored, published scientific articles and career development plans. The research training plan retains educational and research-related elements from previously approved training plans, with refinements that reflect accumulating experience during the research training process. Recent developments include: (a) expansion of NIDA-funded core faculty specializing in drug dependence epidemiology; (b) a resulting increase in courses and research apprenticeship opportunities that focus on drug dependence epidemiology; (c) the addition of core faculty utilizing bench science methodologies; and (d) the implementation of new training initiatives to facilitate fellows' establishing a record of first-author publication during their training experience. We have also revitalized our commitment to recruit underrepresented minorities into the Training Program facilitated by faculty nationwide. Some challenges currently facing the drug dependence field are unique to our era such that advances in bench sciences are now providing the basis to integrate genetic laboratory methodologies within epidemiologic field studies. Other challenges are long-standing with a sustained need for well-designed studies to help identify the biological and environmental factors that predispose to drug dependence and to develop empirically supported approaches to drug prevention. The Training Program at Johns Hopkins University is well positioned to meet these challenges by fostering the development of expert scientists capable of applying advanced epidemiologic and biostatistical methodologies to the study of drug dependence.