Didactics
A major component of the training program is our didactic series. A comprehensive seminar series is offered every Friday morning in which all the research fellows meet together. The various seminars are scheduled to occur within a recurring two-year sequence. The seminars include: (1) background seminars, (2) treatment/intervention reviews, (3) issues in research methodology, design and statistics, (4) grantsmanship, (5) responsible conduct of research, (6) special topics in statistics, and (7) research forum. Several of the seminars are combined across several training programs in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.
The background seminars are organized into five series of topics: Assessment, Biology of Addiction, Co-occurring Disorders, Social/Cultural Issues, and Special Populations. Specific topics covered in past years have included assessing treatment outcomes (methodologies and issues), assessing treatment process, structured diagnostic assessment; the pharmacology of alcohol, tobacco and drug use; neuropsychology of alcohol abuse and of drug abuse; genetic predisposition; neonatal influences; epidemiology of alcoholism and of drug abuse; subcultural and cultural effects; use of alcohol and drugs by special populations, including Afro-Americans and Native Indians; alcohol use across the life span; gender differences in alcohol use and abuse; alcohol and drug abuse in adolescence; the effects of maternal alcohol use on fetal development; cross-cultural issues in alcohol use and abuse; the history of alcohol and drug use policy in the United States; co-morbidities, including depression, anxiety disorders, antisocial personality disorder, nicotine addiction, polydrug abuse; neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of the reward circuit, molecular mechanisms of drug addiction.
Treatment and other intervention strategies are given a thorough review. Prominent substance abuse treatment modalities are selected and a seminar is devoted to the treatment. As part of this review, the knowledge base upon which the treatment modality rests is critiqued, as well are the important research questions to be addressed concerning the treatment modality.
Seminars on selected topics in research methodology, design, and statistics cover a range of topics of value to scholars interested in basic psychosocial and intervention research. Didactic seminars cover topics on methodological issues such as sample size determination, methods for missing data/bias, and introductions to advanced statistical methods (e.g., event history methods, Markov models, latent growth models, and structural equations methods). Research practice seminars focus on issues such as the design and budgeting of follow-up studies, data management, outcome assessment, and the construction of assessment instruments or batteries, focusing on what kinds of critical decisions must be made in designing a study, and how best to make these decisions. We invite faculty, especially younger faculty, to present their own recently-successful grant applications (Design by Example), or data analysis challenges they have overcome (Analysis by Example).
Grantsmanship training is a central part of the training for research fellows. As a part of every fellow’s research training plan it is required that he/she will complete a grant application utilizing NIH’s forms (ro an equivalent) before completion of their training. This training is intensive during the first year of the program so that a completed application can be ready for submission by June 1. The grantsmanship seminar begins with introductory discussions about NIH, NSF and private foundations for funding research activities. This is followed by a more detailed presentation of how NIAAA is organized, and how the grants review process is initiated internally and progresses through the entire grants review cycle and sequence. Study aims, significance, preliminary studies, and methods of study are each taught and written section by section, and rewritten following critiques. At the culmination of this experience each fellow completes an entire application that is reviewed by the full group of training fellows, simulating an IRG. The development of the grant is scheduled to be completed by the end of the first year of the fellow’s training. Typically this assignment is completed in time for either a June or October submission, although some fellows do not complete the assignment until the end of their second year of training.
Responsible conduct of research seminars are interspersed with the sessions on research topics and methods, providing the opportunity to integrate the principles with real life examples. Case-based discussions are led by members of the training faculty, and occasionally by outside experts. Topics covered include: guidelines for authorship in supervisor projects and other research collaboration; special issues associated with the use of minors in Human Subjects research, safety monitoring/withdrawal in clinical research projects, the use of placebos in research, informed consent and the IRB process, ethical issues in recruitment, obtaining consent in cases of diminished capacity, definitions and examples of misconduct in science, and issues surrounding diversity in research.
Each year, the fellows are polled regarding special topics in statistics in which they would like more in-depth instruction. One topic is selected for each monthly seminar. This seminar, taught by biostatisticians in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, offers fellows a chance to work on applied problems in statistics. This past year, for example, multiple and logistic regression analyses was the topic. In the regression seminar, the following areas were covered:
- Assumptions involved with regression analyses
- Distribution, skewness, outliers, curtosis and transforming variables
- Correlation coefficients, predicted scores, and residuals
- Variance: unique variance, shared variance
- Causal models and regression
- Bivariate correlation and regression
- Contrasts and interactions
- Forward and backward stepwise regression
- Statistical power and effect size calculations for multiple regression
The purpose of the research forum is to give the fellow the opportunity to present empirical research that he/she has completed and is preparing for publication. In addition to giving fellows opportunity to practice presentations of completed research, this structure facilitates submission of empirical research reports to journals. Fellows may also use the research forum as an opportunity to present for discussion preliminary ideas for their research, or preliminary findings from their ongoing studies, thus enhancing the quality of their finished products.
Colloquia
Nationally recognized researchers and scholars in the areas of alcohol treatment and intervention research are invited to present colloquia sponsored or co-sponosred by CAAS. Fellows are expected to help select the speakers and to attend all such colloquia. In addition, Center training faculty are invited to give colloquia on results of their current research. These colloquia occur periodically throughout the academic calendar on Friday mornings, typically two per year.
Formal Course Work
It is possible for Fellows to audit some courses at Brown in areas that are especially pertinent to their gaining the expertise needed to accomplish their research goals and gain proficiency in pertinent research skills. Postdocs taking audits are expected to do all of the work required of students taking the course for credit. Not all courses can be audited.
Professional Society Meetings
It is expected that Fellows will attend and participate in national meetings of alcohol/drug research specialty societies. As the Fellow's own research reaches completion, it is also expected that the Fellow will make presentations of his/her research at these meetings. Limited funds are available to cover the expenses of these participations. We strongly encourage and expect that the large majority of fellows will participate in the Research Society on Alcoholism meeting that occurs in June of each year.