HIV and Substance Abuse Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Program

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to NIDA's request for applications to support Research Education Grants in Drug Abuse and Addiction, this application seeks funding to continue, improve, and expand the accomplishments of the Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Einstein) and its University Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, including an enhanced focus on HIV and substance abuse. The centerpiece of the CARE Program, which began in 2002, is a post-doctoral fellowship program for physicians interested in careers in drug abuse research and clinical practice. The CARE Program is based in Einstein's Department of Medicine, and draws additional NIDA-funded research mentors from Einstein's Departments of Epidemiology & Population Health and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, as well as from other New York City institutions. In addition to providing clinical research training necessary to prepare physicians for independent careers as HIV and substance abuse researchers, CARE Program faculty collaborate with key educational leaders at Montefiore Medical Center to enhance evidence-based substance abuse training for residents in Internal and Family Medicine, and for Einstein medical students. The CARE Program has been highly successful in its first eight years of operation, and this competitive renewal will build on that success and create new opportunities for research education and training in HIV and substance abuse. The current specific aims are: 1. to continue, improve, and expand the accomplishments of the CARE Fellowship Program, an innovative research-intensive fellowship program for physicians who have completed residencies in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, or Psychiatry and are seeking careers that combine HIV and substance abuse research and clinical work. 2. To continue, improve, and expand the scope of the CARE Educational Program, an enhanced substance abuse research and clinical training program for residents at Montefiore Medical Center and students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.