# Doctoral Training in Brain and Behavioral Development during Adolescence

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $207,711

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Developmental cognitive and affective neuroscience has been a major force in the renewed focus upon
adolescence as a critical period in development with life-long consequences for health and well-being.
Scientific advances have highlighted the significance of brain development during this period, with a profound
effect on public policy for children and youth, from Supreme Court rulings on culpability and juvenile justice to
public health campaigns on smoking, concussion risk, and sexual health.
The foundational contributions of research on adolescent brain and behavioral development up to this point
offer promise for even broader contributions to the country's public health in the future. In order to best
enhance healthy and productive adolescent development, the field will need to expand by developing research
and training the next generation of scientists in four primary areas: (1) an integrative approach that
incorporates both typical and atypical brain development; (2) the interaction between brain development and
the social environment; (3) sophisticated approaches to examining longitudinal change over time; and (4)
attention to population diversity according to ethnicity and socioeconomic resources.
To our knowledge, however, there is no integrated predoctoral training program on adolescent brain and
behavioral development in the U.S. Existing doctoral programs, including those at UCLA, alone cannot
systematically and sustainably provide students with the training necessary to advance the future of research
in the field. Key limitations include curricular and lab rotation barriers, financial constraints, and the lack of
integrated professional socialization in both brain and behavioral development.
At UCLA, we possess unique strengths that with the support of an Institutional Research Training Grant from
NICHD, can be brought together to create a cutting-edge training program for the next generation of scholars
who can advance science in the four areas describe above, and ultimately enhance the health and well-being
of adolescents. We propose a predoctoral training program that supports five trainees per year for a two-year
period in which students from our existing Psychology and Neuroscience Ph.D. programs enroll in new courses
on substantive and methodological issues in adolescent brain and behavioral development, participate in new
colloquia and scientific events, receive guidance on professional development and ethical practices, and
actively engage in cutting-edge research mentored by top scientists in brain and behavioral development.
Trainees will be able to take advantage of UCLA's many institutional resources and commitments to
neuroscience and the training of next generation of skilled scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those
traditionally underrepresented in the field. Our goal is for the proposed program to help NICHD achieve the
scientific vision of “basic and translational research that combines ne...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10176170
- **Project number:** 5T32HD091059-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Mirella Dapretto
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $207,711
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10176170

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10176170, Doctoral Training in Brain and Behavioral Development during Adolescence (5T32HD091059-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10176170. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*