# Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $685,086

## Abstract

Since its inception in 1984, the Behavioral Science Training in Drug Abuse Research program (BST) has
become one of the nation's largest and oldest NRSA programs specializing in training behavioral scientists for
careers in drug abuse research and related issues, especially HIV/AIDS. BST has trained 218 predoctoral and
postdoctoral trainees—nearly half of them racial/ethnic minorities. This application requests authorization to
maintain the current number of positions—7 postdoctoral and 9 predoctoral trainees—during each of years 36
to 40. BST is housed in the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at New York University. It collaborates with the
Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR), NIDA's largest and oldest P30 center focusing on drug
use and infectious diseases (also housed at Myers), and National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.,
a freestanding research institute that specializes in drug abuse research. The Principal Investigator, Dr.
Gregory Falkin has managed the BST program for 34 years; he works closely with Dr. George De Leon, the
program's Co-Director and Scientific Advisor, in all aspects of training and program operations. The BST core
faculty comprises 42 CDUHR affiliate investigators who currently manage nearly 100 grants—about half are
funded by NIDA—providing ample opportunity for trainees to be mentored by leading experts on a wide range
of NIDA research studies. The BST mission is to prepare behavioral scientists, especially racial/ethnic
minorities, for careers in drug abuse research. The program aims to accomplish this by: (1) recruiting and
appointing promising behavioral scientists, at least one third of whom are minorities; (2) providing advanced
training in substance abuse research and theory, research methods and practices, and the responsible
conduct of research; and (3) mentoring and advising trainees on their careers as well as their research and
NIH grant submissions. Distinguishing features of the BST program that combined make it a truly unique T32,
are that (a) trainees comprise a diverse group—they come from a wide range of behavioral disciplines and
ethnic/racial backgrounds; (b) the core faculty includes 42 leading experts on drug abuse who manage dozens
of NIDA-funded grants; (c) predocs are enrolled at various universities, not just NYU; (d) the trainees receive
highly intensive training that involves classroom learning (they meet as a group all day every Monday in a
variety of BST seminars and workshops, which are supplemented by CDUHR trainings) and hands-on
research experience on projects of their own design and NIDA studies—they have the flexibility to choose the
projects they work on—and postdocs write grant applications; and (e) all fellows receive considerable
mentorship from multiple mentors, including the Program Directors, core BST faculty, and other faculty (e.g.,
thesis committee members). BST's long-standing success is evident in the significant contributions of its
fellows who have d...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9902402
- **Project number:** 5T32DA007233-37
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** GREGORY P FALKIN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $685,086
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1984-08-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9902402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9902402, Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research (5T32DA007233-37). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9902402. Licensed CC0.

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