# Transdisciplinary Training in Addictions Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $269,197

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
The Brown School at Washington University, together with the School of Medicine, is seeking an additional five
years (years 21-26) of support for a pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research training program, called
Transdisciplinary Training in Addictions Research (TranSTAR). Funded since 2002, this program reflects an
integration of social work and medicine in the development of services to, treatment of, clinical correlates of and
policies that affect underserved minority (racial, ethnic, sexual and gender) populations and those particularly
vulnerable to substance use disorders and co-occurring and comorbid conditions. Maximizing an effective
transdisciplinary collaboration between the two schools, the program provides a stimulating and collaborative
research training environment to produce exceptionally well-trained addictions researchers. Organized into four
cores (Substance Use and Mental Health, Populations, Translational, and Methods), TranSTAR faculty are
particularly well-suited for addressing challenging addiction research topics (e.g., polydrug users, non-treatment
seeking, incarcerated populations, mental health/health comorbidities) and populations disproportionately
impacted by social determinants of health including poverty, racism and discrimination, housing and educational
inequality. TranSTAR holds a stellar training record: 100% of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees who have
completed training in the most recent two funding cycles are addictions researchers, with excellent records of
publications and acquisition of funding. The record is similarly positive when the entire cohort of past trainees is
assessed. With a highly diverse training faculty, led by two faculty from social work/public health and psychiatry,
TranSTAR has demonstrated success in recruiting and retaining women and URM scholars; currently
predoctoral trainees are 67% women and 67% URM; diversity is also considerable among postdoctoral trainees
overall (58% women, 58% URM and other marginalized populations). Further, TranSTAR leverages successes
and "lessons learned" with on-going monitoring and evaluation to ensure that trainees (three pre- and two
postdocs/year) have the necessary knowledge and skills to: (1) conceptualize meaningful research questions
with practical service and policy implications; (2) execute rigorous, cutting-edge empirical studies; (3) develop
competitive grant applications suitable for NIDA and other NIH funding; and (4) translate and disseminate results
with potential for high impact. TranSTAR provides: (a) transdisciplinary and specialized substance misuse and
addictions coursework, workshops and seminars taught by leading faculty in social work, public health,
psychiatry, biostatistics, and the social sciences; (b) structured mentoring, advising, and "hands-on" experience
on addictions research projects for trainees; (c) proposal critique review sessions; (d) predoctoral teaching
assistantships in addict...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10837086
- **Project number:** 5T32DA015035-22
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Patricia A Cavazos-Rehg
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $269,197
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10837086

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10837086, Transdisciplinary Training in Addictions Research (5T32DA015035-22). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10837086. Licensed CC0.

---

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