Training Program in Neuropsychopharmacology

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for continuing support for an institutional Training Program in Neuropsychopharmacology. The Program will train scientists who will carry out productive research in their individual fields effectively at the "preclinical-clinical" interface, and more effectively translate research from the laboratory to the bedside in mental health. This objective is addressed by having the postdoctoral Fellows attend specific courses and activities, by arranging for exposure of all non-physicians to clinicians and by facilitating interactions between preclinical and clinical investigators. The didactic portion of the Program comprises about 15% of a postdoctoral Fellow's time;most of their time is spent doing research in the facilities of one or more of the 32 faculty members of the Training Program. The approaches and expertise of the faculty are broad and diverse, and enable us to provide training at the molecular, cellular, neuroanatomical, animal behavioral and/or clinical level. Support is requested for four postdoctoral and two predoctoral Fellows yearly. Postdoctoral Fellows in the Program will be either (1) students with doctoral degrees in pharmacology, psychology, psychobiology or a related discipline, or (2) physicians who have completed at least three years of specialist training in psychiatry or, in selected instances, other specialty areas (e.g., pediatrics, neurology). One of the postdoctoral slots is targeted preferentially to a physician-scientist. Predoctoral fellows will be graduates of a four-year program in biology, chemistry, psychology or a related discipline;upon successful completion of the program, they will receive a doctoral degree in pharmacology or neuroscience. The multidisciplinary program involves faculty from six departments in the School of Medicine as well as faculty from the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Arts and Sciences. The faculty members of the Training Program have a history of collaboration in both teaching and research projects, and could easily accommodate co- mentoring arrangements between physicians and non-physicians. The predoctoral Fellows are advanced graduate students in pharmacology or neuroscience and take a series of courses designed to provide them with background in the anatomical, biochemical and physiological bases of pharmacology, with an emphasis on neuropsychopharmacology. Specific courses taught by Training Program faculty and other activities have been developed that emphasize the consideration of clinical practice in psychiatry in the conduct of basic research. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This is an application for continuing support for an institutional Training Program in Neuropsychopharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. The Program Is multidisciplinary and will train scientists that can translate research more effectively from the laboratory to application in mental health. The Training Program combines predoctoral Fellows with postdoctoral Fellows, including one slot for a physician, in order to provide a collaborative and interactive environment for training the next generation of basic scientists and physicians.