RESEARCH IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION AND ITS DISORDERS

This application requests support for four postdoctoral positions in a multidisciplinary research training program in the areas of hearing, language, and related areas of cognitive neuroscience at Boys Town National Research Hospital (BTNRH). The training program at BTNRH, currently in its 44th year, has provided postdoctoral training to a substantial number of highly qualified scientists who are presently working in these fields related to communication disorders. The purpose of our program is to fulfill two basic training needs: 1) advanced research training for applicants who are recent graduates of speech and hearing, communication sciences or language-related doctoral programs, and 2) training for applicants with a received doctorate in a related field of neurosciences, engineering or mathematics who would benefit from additional research experience in a collaborative, research-intensive environment. The training program consists primarily of direct participation by trainees in behavioral and clinical translational research under the sponsorship of one or more experienced, independent scientists serving on the program faculty. Research at BTNRH is conducted in a wide range of disciplines and laboratories from clinical audiology to language development, with the focus on questions concerning the mechanisms underlying human communication and its disorders. The unique advantages of the BTNRH research environment for the training program include: 1) a faculty consisting of 27 behavioral, clinical and translational clinical scientists who serve as mentors; 2) a critical mass of research trainees, funded by a variety of mechanisms, including T32, F32, Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) and R01 grants; 3) a clinical staff with access to a large and varied pediatric and adult patient population; 4) modern, well-equipped laboratories and clinics; 5) a stimulating mix of areas of research across individual research laboratories; 6) access to support from software and hardware developers within BTNRH’s Technology Core; 7) access to support in human subject recruitment and standard clinical testing from BTNRHs’ Human Subjects Core, 8) state-of-the-art neuroimaging instruments and expertise, and 9) conditions that foster collaborative, multi-disciplinary research. Trainees are selected from doctoral programs in areas relevant to ongoing research programs at BTNRH on the basis of their research potential and the alignment of interests with our training faculty. Particular attention is paid to identifying and inviting applications to the program from candidates who will perform research that aligns to the mission of the NIDCD.