# Translational Clinical Research Fellowship on Substance Use Disorders

> **NIH NIH T32** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $409,328

## Abstract

Substance use disorders are a significant public health problem. There is a need for clinician-scientists
to be trained to design and conduct clinical trials that translate the latest findings in basic neurobiology and
pharmacology of substance use into clinical practice and the development of new treatments. For over two
decades The Division on Substance Use Disorders of the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and
the New York State Psychiatric Institute has provided such training to a large cohort of clinical investigators.
The purpose of this renewal application is to continue our postdoctoral program focused on training primarily
physicians and psychologists for research careers in substance use disorders. The main objective of this
program, now in its 24th year of continuous funding, remains to provide both the research skills and clinical
expertise necessary to design and carry out independent translational research on the etiology and treatment
of substance use disorders. Most of our trainees are encouraged to submit a K award, and about half of our
trainees do so while the remainder continues work in affiliation with academic or research institutions. Both
outcomes promote our goal of providing research skills and developing future leaders in clinical and treatment
research on substance use and related disorders and academic medicine more broadly. Fellows are offered 2
years of training, while a third year may be offered to fellows making excellent progress but needing more time
to develop their K awards or other other research proposals.
 In this competing application we are requesting 5 additional years of funding for 6 postdoctoral fellows
to be enrolled in the program each year. We have developed a successful approach to training that includes: 1)
Didactic introduction to clinical research in substance-related and addictive disorders that incorporates a
comprehensive overview of the substance abuse field, an introduction and advanced course in statistics,
weekly journal clubs and methodology seminars, and a formal course and ongoing instruction on the ethical
and appropriate scientific conduct of clinical research; 2) Research apprenticeship where each fellow works as
a junior collaborator under the close supervision of a senior investigator who serves as a preceptor and
mentor; 3) Clinical experience in the major modalities used to treat substance use disorders; and 4)
Development of teaching skills where each fellow is provided opportunities to provide lectures/seminars to
medical students, psychiatric and other medical housestaff and at journal clubs and scientific meetings.
 The traditional foci of training remain clinical trials and human behavioral pharmacology. Further, over
the past 5 years we have recruited new faculty in order to expand research opportunities for trainees across
the translational spectrum and into new frontiers of treatment development. New directions include animal
models to human translational wor...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10150821
- **Project number:** 5T32DA007294-29
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Frances Rudnick Levin
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $409,328
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1993-07-20 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10150821

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10150821, Translational Clinical Research Fellowship on Substance Use Disorders (5T32DA007294-29). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10150821. Licensed CC0.

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