Alcohol Research Training: Methods and Mechanisms of Change

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

This application requests five more years of support for a highly successful training program directed and run at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA) since 2010. CASAA is an interdisciplinary center devoted to prevention, treatment, mechanisms of behavior change, and implementation research on alcohol, substance use, and other addictive behaviors, as well as comorbid conditions. The NIAAA-funded T32 training program at CASAA is supported by faculty within the UNM Department of Psychology and faculty mentors within six other Departments and Colleges. In the last 14 years, the program has trained 42 pre- and postdoctoral trainees for independent careers in alcohol research, nearly all of whom have continued in research careers. This renewal requests ongoing support for four predoctoral trainees, drawn from the UNM Department of Psychology, and three postdoctoral trainees from disciplines relevant to the goals of the training program, such as psychology, sociology, economics, education, addiction medicine, psychiatry, social work, public health, epidemiology, neuroscience, and pharmacy. The training program prepares future scientists to conduct rigorous alcohol research across a range of areas including evidence-based treatment, mechanisms of behavior change, precision medicine, comorbidity and the individual- and system-level factors related to alcohol use, polysubstance use, and other addictive behaviors, technology-based interventions, and implementation science; and draws on several new conceptual and methodological approaches with the goal of reducing the public health burden of alcohol use disorder. For example, trainees address questions such as: What types of interventions are more or less effective in supporting recovery from alcohol use disorder across individuals (e.g., with respect to comorbidities), and, equally important, what specific aspects of treatment account for their effectiveness? Eleven core faculty serve as the primary and/or secondary preceptors for trainees. Core faculty have strong records of mentorship, research, and funding on precision medicine and mechanisms of behavior change, prevention and treatment, technology-based interventions, comorbidity, and implementation science. The 16 contributing faculty serve as secondary or supporting preceptors and bring complementary expertise in neuroscience, quantitative and qualitative methods, public health, and education as well as provide content expertise and opportunities for secondary research experiences. The CASAA T32 training program, which will be formally and informally evaluated annually by trainees, mentors, and an external advisory board, provides a rigorous curriculum and individualized mentoring plans in responsible conduct of alcohol research, transparency and reproducibility, mechanisms of behavior change, implementation science, NIH grant writing, and advanced quantitative and qualitative methodologies.