Fellowships in Research Training in Drug Abuse Behavior

Pre- and Postdoctoral Fellowships

 
NIDA

This National Institute on Drug Abuse training program supports two predoctoral and three postdoctoral trainees annually with approximately 20 faculty drawn from ten academic and research units of the University of Kentucky. 

Predoctoral trainees will concentrate on behavioral aspects of substance use disorder as part of a doctoral program in a behavioral science discipline (e.g., psychology, sociology, neuroscience). Postdoctoral fellows will either have a doctorate in a behavioral science discipline and will be preparing for a research role in the substance use disorder field.   

The program is designed to prepare trainees to assume research responsibilities in academic and other scientific organizations concerned with bio-behavioral aspects of substance use disorders. 

Basic elements of the program include:

  1. Training in the basic building blocks of research (e.g., experimental design, data analysis) and independent research competence;
  2. An interdisciplinary orientation that takes students beyond their basic discipline and provides exposure to key theoretical concepts and methodological issues of the related behavioral sciences along with a bio-behavioral conceptualization;
  3. A program of enculturation and orientation to substance use disorder, health, and mental health settings;
  4. Exploration of substance use disorder topics from a medical behavioral perspective through courses offered by training faculty; and,
  5. Opportunities for research around relevant questions in substance use behavior 

For information on the application process, please contact William.Stoops@uky.edu 

 

ARISE

The Addressing Rural cancer Inequities through Scientific Excellence (ARISE) program aims to provide transdisciplinary and translational postdoctoral research training in rural cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. To reduce the highest cancer morbidity and mortality rates in the nation, the University of Kentucky’s (UK) behavioral cancer training program aims to develop a new generation of collaborative and rigorous scientists. Supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI, T32CA261786), the ARISE program supports up to four postdoctoral fellows for up to two years. The training program, based in the Center for Health, Engagement and Transformation and the Department of Behavioral Science, operates in close collaboration with UK’s National Cancer Institute-designated Markey Cancer Center; Center for Clinical and Translational Science; Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences; Office of Postdoctoral Affairs; Office of the Vice President for Research and departments across UK’s 16 colleges.

ARISE postdoctoral trainees select one of three thematic behavioral cancer tracks: environment, risk behavior, and health care delivery. Postdoctoral trainees select a team of three faculty preceptors from a roster of over 25 UK faculty members, all of whom are experienced scientists in transdisciplinary research with established collaborative relationships, representing diverse yet complementary areas of expertise, including behavioral science; environmental carcinogenesis; clinical and translational research; and intervention and implementation science. Additional mentoring includes geospatial analysis, mHealth and cluster randomized designs. Each trainee has a mentoring committee with one primary mentor in her/his specified track and two secondary mentors with one from another track and a methodology mentor. Trainees participate in a rigorous, structured program that includes formal coursework, training in the responsible conduct of research, and workshops and seminars. Trainees gain career development experiences and build a professorial network through scientific writing; presentations; grant preparation and review; and leadership opportunities. Special programming designed to improve expertise in rural cancer disparities includes research shadowing, experience, a personalized rural cancer patient experience, and attendance at rural health disparities conferences. Trainee progress and mentor support is tracked through detailed annual evaluation. ARISE will build a next generation of cancer behavioral researchers aiming to reduce rural health disparities. For more information, see https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/chet/arise-postdoctoral-fellowship-program and contact ARISE PIs, Dr. Mark Dignan (Mark.Dignan@uky.edu) or Dr. Nancy Schoenberg (nesch@uky.edu).