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Research Training Sites

Revised February 2013

Pre- and Post-Doctoral Training

Albany Medical College

This training program in neuropharmacology and neuroscience provides a multifaceted approach to understanding mechanisms of abused drugs and to developing new agents for treating addiction through an integrated program of didactic work and in-depth research experiences.
Project Director: Stanley Glick, M.D., Ph.D. glicks@mail.amc.edu

Brown University, The Miriam Hospital

This post-doctoral training program focuses on clinical research training in the areas of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and STDs among substance users. The goal is to train MDs and PhDs in prevention intervention research and interventions to improve treatment and access to therapy for HIV, Hepatitis, TB, and STDs among "hard to reach" populations. 
Project Director: Timothy P. Flanigan, M.D.
Administrator:
 Jennifer Hyde jhyde@lifespan.org

Columbia University

The Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program at Columbia University trains individuals from different disciplines for careers and leadership in substance abuse epidemiology. We train pre- and post-doctoral fellows to use epidemiologic methods to understand the onset, course, and consequences of substance abuse, and to transform such understanding into actions that mitigate the toll substance abuse takes on individuals and on society. We emphasize a multi-level, cells-to-society approach and our training goals include gaining knowledge about substance abuse epidemiology and related areas, building a set of methodological skills, presenting findings in professional settings, and becoming trained in the responsible conduct of research.
Program Director: Deborah Hasin, Ph.D. dsh2@columbia.edu

Cornell University Weill Medical College

The Pharmacology-Neuroscience Drug Abuse Training Program will provide the opportunity for young investigators to participate in basic and clinical research in drug abuse. Training Faculty interests include the phenotypic consequences for pain states, opioid tolerance, reward, anxiety or gaseous anesthetic action of the mutation or deletion of opioid, glutamatergic, GABA or serotonergic receptors, the role soluble and transmembrane adenylyl cyclases in opioid signal transduction, in vivo receptor and drug imaging techniques, anatomical and ultrastructure characterization of the dopaminergic, glutamatergic and opioid peptides systems as they relate to the effects of drugs of abuse, the biological basis of opioid, cocaine and alcohol tolerance and dependency, maternal-fetal pharmacodynamics of drugs of abuse, drug abuse prevention research and the clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of opioid and nonopioid analgesics. Predoctoral trainees will have a choice of a major concentration in either Pharmacology or Neuroscience. In addition to lectures and seminars devoted to topics in drug abuse, both the 5 pre and the 5 postdoctoral trainees will attend a biweekly Pain Conference at MSKCC where patient presentations are followed by a discussion with a multidisciplinary Pain Research Team of pain management, drug abuse and related issues. The program provides training in study design, biostatistics and the ethics of scientific research. 
Project Director: Charles Inturrisi, Ph.D. ceintur@med.cornell.edu

Emory University

This training program in The Neurobiology of Drug Abuse focuses on the mechanisms of drug use/abuse /dependence/treatment and offers interdisciplinary training. The 20 faculty offer research in clinical problems, brain imaging, behavioral models, neuroanatomy, drug receptors and signal transduction, medications development, and molecular biology and genetics. 
Program Website: http://research.yerkes.emory.edu/neuroscience/training/drugabuse/index.html
Program Director: Michael J. Kuhar, Ph.D. mkuhar@rmy.emory.edu

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The primary goal of this new training program is to increase the number and quality of quantitatively adept scientists who, after training, will conduct population field studies and other epidemiologic research on drug dependence and on related hazards associated with illicit drug use.
Project Director: Debra Furr-Holden, Ph.D. dholden@jhsph.edu

Public Health Solutions

This training program is designed to prepare social scientists for careers in research on drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. Training activities at National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI) emphasize: advanced courses in drug abuse theory and research methods and in substantive issues related to AIDS, crime, and other drug related topics. Fellows attend appropriate doctoral level courses at Columbia University, School of Public Health or other New York area universities.
Program Director: Gregory Falkin, Ph.D. Falkin@ndri.org

Medical University of South Carolina

Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training for individuals who are interested in a multidisciplinary basic science and/or clinical approach to drug abuse issues. Our expertise is in translating research on the mechanisms of drug seeking behavior and its molecular/cellular substrates into pharmacotherapies for drug addiction. This site is the home of the Neurobiology of Addiction Research Center (Peter Kalivas-PI); the Translational Research on Addiction Center (Ronald See-PI) http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/neurosciences/research/index.html; and a Specialized Center of Research in Addiction (Kathleen Brady-PI) http://www.musc.edu/psychiatry/research/cns/SCOR/About%20SCOR/aboutscor.htm.
Program Director: Jacqueline F. McGinty, Ph.D. mcginty@musc.edu

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

This is an epidemiological research training program for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and summer research apprentices. The scientific focus is on drug dependence epidemiology and intervention research, with a multi-level population and ecological perspective. We pose research questions under five main rubrics of substantive epidemiology, as well as methodological research questions, and we seek increasingly definitive answers to questions of public health significance. The program provides talented investigators with opportunities to join ongoing NIDA-funded research projects and to design their own experiments, based on theories and research approaches of epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as the life-span developmental sciences, econometrics, and systems analysis.
Program Website: http://http://www.epi.msu.edu/nida/
Program Director: James C. Anthony, Ph.D.
Staff Contact: Jayne Goeddeke Jayne@epi.msu.edu

Northeastern University

The Center for Drug Discovery training program provides interdisciplinary training in the area of drug discovery and development. Our primary objective is to familiarize pre- and post-doctoral trainees with the chemical, physiological, pharmacological, and clinical aspects of pharmacotherapeutics for treating substance abuse, with particular focus on modulators of the endocannabinoid signaling system. This training program is broadened by the participation of premier scientists and laboratories from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as from clinical and translational research centers. Pre-doctoral students will earn a Ph.D. either in Pharmaceutical Sciences or in Chemistry and Chemical Biology; post-doctoral fellows will be trained in areas that include medicinal chemistry, structural and molecular biology, biochemical pharmacology, behavioral science, proteomics, metabolomics, and in vivo imaging, and may choose mentored academic projects at any of six program sites. 
Northeastern University's Website: www.northeastern.edu
Project Director: Alexandros Makriyannis, Ph.D. a.makriyannis@neu.edu

Oregon Health & Science University

This program will train specialists to conduct preclinical research ranging from the molecular to the behavioral level on the biological mechanisms underlying the development, maintenance, and elimination of drug-seeking behavior. Thirty-one faculty will serve as preceptors for trainees at the cellular/molecular level, using molecular biological, electrophysiological, and fluorescence and electron microscopic techniques; at the level of physiological, biochemical, and pharmacological systems, using receptor binding, autoradiography, in vivo microdialysis and voltammetry, in vitro perfusion, and electrophysiological techniques; in pharmacogenetics and behavioral pharmacology, using behavioral testing, intravenous drug self-administration, quantitative genetics, and genetic mapping techniques; and at the cognitive/human/clinical level, using behavioral tests, EEG, fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging, and PET scanning.
Project Director: Kim Neve, Ph.D. nevek@ohsu.edu

Pennsylvania State University

This training program focuses on the interface of prevention research and methodology. The goal is train researchers in the development and application of cutting-edge research methods in the design and evaluation of substance abuse" and comorbid prevention programs for children, youth, families, and communities. The training program will develop researchers who: (1) are knowledgeable about the central principles and models of prevention science, (2) can utilize sophisticated modeling techniques for longitudinal data, and (3) have the capacity to translate these skills into development and refinement of strategies to improve the lives of young people. The program combines the strengths of the Prevention Research Center and The Methodology Centers to provides a high-quality, interdisciplinary training environment. More information can be found at http://methodology.psu.edu/pamt/.
Project Director: Mark Greenberg, Ph.D. mxg47@psu.edu
Training Director: Ed Smith, Ph.D. eas8@psu.edu

Temple University School of Medicine

This program provides interdisciplinary training in several areas of drug abuse research including behavioral, cellular, and molecular pharmacology, neuroscience, and immunology. Our current research emphasis is on investigating the effects of opioids, cocaine, cannabinoids, and nicotine on behavior and on the brain and immune system. Training of predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows from the Departments of Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology, Psychology, Biochemistry, and Physiology is provided, with experienced drug abuse researchers in each department to serve as mentors. This program provides the trainees with the opportunity to learn a variety of research skills in a collaborative and supportive atmosphere, and helps prepare them for independent careers in academia, industry, or government. Temple University has a large, active Center for Substance Abuse Research which supports research efforts on drugs of abuse and addiction. Detailed research program descriptions can be found on our web sites, Center for Substance Abuse Research and www.temple.edu/medicine
Program Director: Ellen Unterwald, Ph.D. Ellen.Unterwald@temple.edu

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

This unique training program is in an emerging area—translational research in addiction. Trainee research opportunities will include, among many others, laboratory studies of antibody-based therapy for methamphetamine abuse, studies of the behavioral economics of addiction, novel medications to treat cocaine and opiate dependence, behavioral treatments of marijuana dependence, behavioral and neural mechanisms of change, treatment service dissemination, and cost effectiveness of reducing drug treatment barriers. The project will train addiction scientists to participate in translational science that directly assesses the clinical relevance of basic research; conduct scientific analyses of basic processes underlying drug abuse; help develop and assess behavioral and pharmacological treatments of addiction; determine approaches to integrate these findings into clinical practice; and identify policies that support integration. Scientists trained in translational research will be at the crossroads of basic and clinical research, where they can provide a crucial pathway between these two domains.
Program Director: Warren Bickel, Ph.D. WBickel@uams.edu

University of California, Los Angeles

The UCLA Drug Abuse Research Training Center has provided training in drug abuse research to pre and post-doctoral fellows since its inception in 1991. This program will continue to include trainees at all levels of experience, including MDs. The objectives of the DARTC program are to provide intensive, comprehensive, integrated, interdisciplinary research training to an ethnically and experientially diverse group of trainees. In addition, trainees have access to large populations using every drug of abuse, from all racial and cultural backgrounds and from varied socioeconomic levels, set amid urban, suburban, and rural communities. The curriculum covers virtually every area of drug abuse research, including epidemiology, etiology, pharmacology, neurobiology, HIV/AIDS, the natural history of use/dependence, and the development and evaluation of pharmacological and behavioral interventions.
Project Director: Richard A. Rawson, Ph.D. rrawson@mednet.ucla.edu

University of California, San Diego

The University of California San Diego and San Diego State University co-sponsor a T32 program focused on substance use, HIV and related infections that aims to train the next generation of behavioral researchers in public health disciplines (e.g. epidemiology, psychology, global health, public health law, health behavior). The program currently has 3 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral training slots. A unique feature of this program is the opportunity to engage in hands-on training in international drug abuse research, as several of the faculty have active research programs in the Mexico-US border region.
Program Website: http://gph.ucsd.edu
Program Director: Steffanie Strathdee, Ph.D. sstrathdee@ucsd.edu

University of Chicago

This training program emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach aimed at characterizing the multiple actions of different drugs and deciphering the behavioral and neurobiological factors that contribute to their abuse. Research programs span the neuropsychopharmacology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, genetics, and molecular biology of drug effects through to the study of behavioral and subjective effects of drugs in humans.
Website: http://nida-training-program.bsd.uchicago.edu/index.html
Program Director: Paul Vezina, Ph.D. pvezina@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu

University of Colorado - Boulder

The pre- and postdoctoral programs at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG) provide training in the development and use of genetic strategies to study behavior, in general, and substance abuse in particular. Predoctoral students receive didactic training in molecular genetics, quantitative genetics, and behavioral genetics. All IBG predoctoral trainees are also graduate students in regular academic departments of the University of Colorado (e.g. Psychology and Neuroscience, Integrated Physiology, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology) and must, as a result, take the coursework required by the relevant academic department to complete the Ph.D. Both pre- and postdoctoral trainees will participate actively in drug abuse-related projects directed by IBG's faculty. This research ranges from animal model to human studies.
Program Director: John K. Hewitt, Ph.D. John.Hewitt@Colorado.edu

University of lllinois - Chicago

Pre- and Post-doctoral training focuses on the etiology and prevention of adolescent substance abuse, violence, unsafe sexual behaviors and AIDS. We emphasize longitudinal etiology research and randomized trials of prevention programs. The program is located in the Institute for Health Research and Policy, a cluster of 5 interdisciplinary research centers administered by the School of Public Health. This program allows fellows to work closely with faculty from various disciplines on ongoing etiology and prevention research projects and develop their own research programs.
Project Director: Robin Mermelstein, Ph.D. robinm@uic.edu

University of Kentucky

This is an interdisciplinary program involving 14 faculty from a variety of departments including Anatomy and Neurobiology, Behavioral Science, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Pharmacy, and Psychology whose objective is to prepare predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees for a career in drug abuse research. There is a rich tradition of drug abuse research at the University of Kentucky that currently includes a Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and a Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation. This program provides broad-based training in modern concepts of drug abuse research with an emphasis on studies of receptors involved in drugs of abuse, the development of ligands which interact with these receptors, enzymes that regulate opioid peptide action, and neuroAIDS. The focus of the training program is on the use of a spectrum of state-of-the-art methodological approaches such as structural biology, proteomics, molecular modeling, and microarray technology in conjunction with molecular biology, pharmacology and basic neuroscience to explore the mechanisms that are the foundation of drug abuse research.
Program Director: Linda P. Dwoskin, Ph.D. ldwoskin@uky.edu

University of Kentucky, College of Medicine

Predoctoral and postdoctoral training program in health and drug abuse research that spans preclinical and clinical methodologies to community level interventions. Those selected for the program will be trained to solve research problems in interdisciplinary teams. The training faculty serve as models of multidisciplinary collaboration in the disciplines of psychology, pharmacology, sociology, neuroanatomy, nursing, psychiatry, public health, and communications. Their research is carried out in the laboratories, clinic research wards, community treatment centers, criminal justice settings, and residential research facilities.
Program Director: Craig R. Rush, Ph.D. crush2@email.uky.edu

University of Michigan

This training program puts into practice the cutting-edge concepts of interdisciplinarity and translational research at the intersection of behavioral, epidemiological, and neurobiological investigation of substance abuse. Trainees are exposed to a critical analysis of extant research on substance abuse through pro-seminars, interdisciplinary speakers and discussion groups. Trainees are expected to write for and present to multidisciplinary audiences as well as develop research competencies in their respective disciplines. Trainees will work with two faculty mentors, one mentor from the trainee's discipline and the other mentor from a complementary discipline.
Program Director: Margaret Gnegy, Ph.D. pgnegy@umich.edu

University of Minnesota (PharmacoNeuroImmunology)

The PharmacoNeuroImmunology (PNI) program http://www.ahc.umn.edu/pni/ is an interdisciplinary training program that focuses on the intersections of drugs of abuse with the nervous and immune systems, and integrates our understanding of these physiological interactions with their behavioral counterparts, including the role of the drugs of abuse as co-factors in HIV/AIDS. The faculty trainers have extensive experience as mentors and are committed to training predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in this interdisciplinary setting.
Program Director: Thomas Molitor, Ph.D. molit001@umn.edu
Program Co-Director: Sabita Roy, Ph.D. royxx002@umn.edu

University of Minnesota

This is an interdisciplinary training program in the biology of drug abuse. Research training is available in laboratories offering a variety of experiences, e.g. receptor studies, signal transduction, transmitter neuropharmacology, animal and human behavioral pharmacology all approached from either a mechanistic or intervention strategy. 
Project Director: Thomas Molitor, Ph.D. molit001@tc.umn.edu

University of Pennsylvania

This program provides clinical and research training for physicians and post-doctoral researchers who wish to become qualified in treatment research for IV substance abusing patients, particularly as it relates to the care of those infected with, or at high risk, for infection with HIV. Trainees will be fully trained in all of the current behavioral psychological and pharmacological techniques.
Project Director: Charles O'Brien, M.D. obrien@mail.trc.upenn.edu

University of Rochester

This program takes an interdisciplinary approach to the broad spectrum of the problems of drug abuse and the many directions of drug abuse research. The four divisions of the training program include: Behavioral Pharmacology, Biochemical Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology, and Molecular Pharmacology. Pre-doctoral students will be able to receive a Ph.D. degree from several interdisciplinary programs, including pharmacology, toxicology, psychology, and neuroscience.
Project Director: Jean Bidlack, Ph.D. jean_bidlack@urmc.rochester.edu

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

This program provides both pre- and postdoctoral training in the behavioral and biochemical mechanisms of actions of drugs of abuse, especially psychomotor stimulants, opiates and phencyclidine. Anatomic, behavioral, biochemical, cellular and genetic approaches are used. Students, as well as the training faculty, come from graduate programs in pharmacology and toxicology, neuroscience, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Training is facilitated by resources made available through the Center for Addiction Research (CAR) headed by Dr. Kathryn Cunningham (see http://www.utmb.edu/addiction/).
Program Director: Kenneth M. Johnson, Ph.D. kmjohnso@utmb.edu

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Our program offers research training in diverse areas of neuroscience directly relevant to drug abuse and addiction. A distinguishing feature of the program is its multidisciplinary orientation. There is ongoing research at the level of molecular biology, genetics, cellular physiology, neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, and behavioral neuroscience, and most trainees carry out research that spans several of these various disciplines. Trainees also benefit from the outstanding biomedical research community at UT Southwestern.
Program Director: Amelia J. Eisch, Ph.D. Amelia.Eisch@UTSouthwestern.edu

University of Vermont

This training program is primarily involved in the behavioral pharmacology of human drug dependence. Research opportunities range from laboratory studies of human drug discrimination and self administration to clinical outpatient studies of behavioral and pharmacological treatment of IV cocaine abuse.
Project Director: Stephen Higgins, Ph.D. stephen.higgins@uvm.edu

University of Washington

The unique strength of this faculty group is their expertise in the molecular pharmacology of signal transduction mechanisms likely to be affected by drugs of abuse. Previous research by this group includes 1) studies of the effects of opioids, phencyclidine, and cannabinoids on ion channel function, 2) the structure and biochemical properties of channels and enzymes known to be regulated by drugs of abuse, and 3) the effects of chronic exposure of opiates on the properties of specific neurons in the mammalian brain.
Project Director: Charles Chavkin, Ph.D. cchavkin@u.washington.edu

University of Washington

This Nursing Research Training Program in Substance Abuse is interdisciplinary and offers two post-doctoral research fellowships for individuals holding a doctorate in Nursing; and two fellowships for individuals holding a doctorate in Psychology, Social Work, Psychiatry and/or other heath care disciplines. Additionally, there are two pre-doctoral traineeships for students enrolled in the University of Washington School of Nursing doctoral program. The training foci of this program are substance abuse epidemiological research and treatment research. The training opportunities, particularly in treatment research, are excellent. A NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) is in progress at the University of Washington. There are ongoing clinical trials that combine psychosocial treatment with medication, intervention studies on substance abuse co-morbidities, and projects in the corrections/criminal justice/prison system. Numerous other training opportunities with other federally-funded mentor projects are also available. 
Project Director: Elaine Adams Thompson Ph.D., RN elainet@u.washington.edu

Virginia Commonwealth University

The principal objective of this training program is to prepare pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students for academic careers as independent scientists in the area of drug abuse research. Pre-doctoral students may enter the drug abuse training program after completing at least one year in the graduate program of the department. They will have had courses in biochemistry, physiology and general pharmacology and will have been exposed to research in at least four different laboratories by the time that they enter the drug abuse training program.
Project Director: William Dewey, Ph.D. wdewey@hsc.vcu.edu

Washington University, George Warren Brown School of Social Work

The Social Work Training in Addictions Research (STAR) pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training program focuses on research on services and treatment of substance abusing and comorbid populations. Trainees benefit from our program's affiliation with several NIH supported centers at the Brown School of Social Work and across the University with emphasis on transdisciplinary research and the provision of social work and public health prevention and intervention services for drug, alcohol, and comorbid problems to underserved populations. The program prepares trainees for academic research placements in tenure track or post-doctoral fellowship positions.
Program Co-Director: Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D., MPE, LCSW williamsr@wustl.edu

Washington University School of Medicine

This program offers a broad range of research opportunities for individuals wishing to give primary emphasis in their research to drug abuse epidemiology, comorbidity, prevention, assessment or biostatistics. This program seeks to recruit and equip researchers from other backgrounds such as social work, infectious disease and public health, with the special skills that are needed to address challenging problems that are specific to drug abuse research.
Project Director: Linda Cottler, Ph.D. cottler@epi.wustl.edu

This page was last updated February 2013

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