Postdoctoral Research Training

Overview

INFORMATION for POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW APPLICANTS:

Successful Trainees of this Program Will:

  • Conduct an experiment under the mentorship of a TNDA Faculty Member                       
  • Receive the integrative knowledge base needed to plan, conduct and obtain independent funding (R-Series Grants, K-Awards) for bidirectional translational studies of drug abuse.         
  • Be awarded a monthly stipend, basic health insurance (as set by NIH: NOT-OD-12-033) & $1000 travel award.

TNDA Postdoctoral Fellows will select a primary research concentration in 1) Animal Models and Molecular & Cellular Neurobiology, 2) Brain Imaging and Cognitive Neuroscience, or 3) Preclinical Pharmacology and Neuroscience.  Fellows will carry out their research project in a TNDA mentor’s laboratory (below), but will gain exposure to other areas of drug abuse research through laboratory rotations, common core training elements as well as by formal and informal interaction among TNDA faculty.

Below are the names of the TNDA Program Faculty.  All Instructors with links are affiliated with the UCLA Semel Institute/Department of Psychiatry.  The External Instructors are UCLA professors that are not affiliated with the Semel Institute/Department of Psychiatry, but have academic appointments in other relevant areas of study (i.e., Neurology, Psychology, Pharmacology, etc.) but are still members of the TNDA Program Faculty.

Director/Instructor(s): 
Edythe London
Director/Instructor(s): 
James David Jentsch
Director/Instructor(s): 
Christopher Evans
Director/Instructor(s): 
Michael Fanselow
Director/Instructor(s): 
Nelson Freimer
Director/Instructor(s): 
David Krantz
Director/Instructor(s): 
Nigel Maidment
Director/Instructor(s): 
Kelsey C. Martin
Director/Instructor(s): 
Yi Sun
Director/Instructor(s): 
Cui-Wei Xie
Director/Instructor(s): 
Xiangdong William Yang
Director/Instructor(s): 
Robert Bilder
Director/Instructor(s): 
Michael Irwin
Director/Instructor(s): 
Steven Shoptaw
Director/Instructor(s): 
Arthur Brody

Overview

The program consists of two years of training, including research training with the nominating mentor, participation in a neurobehavioral phenotyping course, the Neurogenetics Affinity Group seminar series, and seminars in the ethical conduct of research. Participants will receive one year of funding from the training grant; acceptance is contingent upon the mentor committing to fund the candidate for the second year of the program.  All participants will be required to submit at least one grant proposal during the first year in the program. Under exceptional circumstances, the program executive committee may provide funding for a second year.