# Bioengineering in Psychiatry Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $243,458

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Through the mechanism of a pre-doctoral T32 interdisciplinary training program, the Departments of
Bioengineering (BIOE) and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh (UPitt) are seeking NIH support for
bioengineering pre-docs to train as mental health researchers. The program is aimed at educating talented
students with engineering and other quantitative sciences background for careers in mental health research.
Consistent with the NIMH strategic, we envision an increasing role for quantitative and computational science in
psychiatric research. The trainees (6 per year) of this program will be uniquely qualified to help lead development
and use new technical bioengineering approaches to address mental health research challenges. This training
program capitalizes on the breadth of bioengineering in psychiatry research at UPitt and provides students with
access to the clinical presentation and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
PhD trainees will take foundational courses in bioengineering, cognitive and computational neuroscience,
psychopathology, and ethics and will be complemented by electives. Students are exposed to clinical
environments via a longitudinal clinical experience and two 1-week intensive clinical observerships. A diverse
group of research-active mentors (16 in Psychiatry and 16 in Bioengineering) comprised of basic scientists,
clinicians, and engineers, serve as advisors to guide students in their doctoral research efforts where each
mentee will have 2 principle co-mentors (1 in BIOE and 1 in Psychiatry). Finally, students participate in several
program-specific activities throughout their graduate school years, designed to enhance interactions and
exchange of information (student-student and student-faculty) and to facilitate professional and career
development. Each student receives extensive research training in the laboratories of the training faculty.
There are three integrated focus areas of this pre-doctoral training program: (1) Neuroimaging, (2)
Neurostimulation, and (3) Neural Engineering. All of these tracks are heavily utilized in a wide variety of mental
health research including mood disorder, anxiety disorder, psychotic disorder, suicide, and cognitive impairment
where currently there is a critical mass of researchers at UPitt addressing these disorders.
This training program will provide a unique educational and research experience aimed at training bioengineering
scientists to develop careers in mental health research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9937852
- **Project number:** 5T32MH119168-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** HOWARD J AIZENSTEIN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $243,458
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9937852

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9937852, Bioengineering in Psychiatry Training Program (5T32MH119168-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9937852. Licensed CC0.

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