Training in Etiology and Consequences of Alcohol Use Across the Lifespan

Abstract This T32 application seeks support for four postdoctoral lines at the newly established Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC), the largest comprehensive addiction research center in the U.S, to provide training in the etiology and consequences of alcohol involvement across the lifespan. The interdisciplinary training program will be led by a core team of 11 RARC-affiliated faculty mentors across a number of academic departments and centers at Rutgers who have active NIH funding portfolios and successful mentoring histories. Additional expertise will be provided by a group of 9 supporting faculty from RARC who are domain experts in related topics and/or methodological/ statistical experts. Faculty mentors contribute expertise in course of alcohol use across the lifespan, the underlying biological mechanisms (e.g., stress hormones, genetics, neurobiological) and psychosocial mechanisms (e.g., psychological, inter-personal, environmental), and ensuing consequences. Specific faculty expertise in related conditions include trauma/PTSD, mental and physical health, behavioral addictions including gambling and gaming, co-use of multiple substances, stress, sleep, and women’s health. Trainees will be able to customize advanced methodologic training specific to their research training goals across the areas of genomic analyses, longitudinal and intensive longitudinal analysis, digital health, community-based research, treatment implementation, and intervention design. An Internal Advisory Committee of five leaders at Rutgers and an External Advisory Board of four world-class researchers with substantial knowledge in alcohol research training and experience fostering the integration of diversity scholarship and alcohol research will monitor progress and provide guidance and recommendations. The training program will consist of a two-year sequence of mentored and didactic experiences and individually tailored professional development activities. Training includes hands-on mentored research with a primary mentor supported by a mentoring team as well as engagement in a faculty-led core seminar series, a grant writing sequence culminating in submission of an independent grant, journal clubs, and professional development panels, as well as trainee research talks and external speakers at an in-person retreat. First-year trainees will receive specialized training in state-of-the-art methodology, data analysis, and data science; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and responsible conduct of research including practices to enhance research rigor and transparency. The program will host communication skills, mentorship training, and career development events and will support a strong scientific community through work-in-progress and shared interest groups and near-peer mentors. Finally, training faculty will receive mentorship training. Evaluation of individual trainees, faculty mentors, and the training program will be based on formal benchmarks. This training grant will launch the scientific careers of the next generation of alcohol researchers through interdisciplinary alcohol training in an untapped, rigorous, and highly resourced addiction research environment.