Summer Substance Abuse Research Training (SummerSART)

The Summer Substance Abuse Disorders Research Training (SummerSART) at Charles R. Drew University (CDU) and UCLA builds on the highly successful SART grant (R25DA050723, funded in April 2020) that, in turn, built on 15 years of DIDARP/MIDARP program (PI: Friedman) in which 159 students received a meaningful research experience in substance use disorder fields along with training and mentorship. This summer grant proposes to provide hypothesis-driven research, courses for skill development and mentorship to eight undergraduates in established training programs at CDU that require a research project/thesis as well as other undergraduate students throughout the country with the goal of training the next generation of substance use disorder researchers. Trainees will be allowed to choose a mentor from one of 21 senior substance use disorder researchers at CDU and UCLA and will also have the option of one of community faculty mentors that will help the trainee with dissemination and community engagement, one of the specialties of CDU. Training will include four 2-hr long research institutes, five 90-min webinars in hot topics in substance use research, a four-part UHI research training course, special seminars, a weekly journal club in substance use research and a four-part responsible conduct of research series. All programs are designed to inspire and provide the trainee skills so that they are more competitive in their future careers in substance use disorder research. We expect this summer R25 grant will train the next generation of substance use disorder researchers and provide them with skills that will allow them to succeed at their next research level.