NIH T32DA017629
Administered in: College of Health and Human Development
Visit the Prevention and Methodology Training Program website
Abstract:
Since 2005, the Prevention and Methodology Training Program (PAMT) T32, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has met a critical need in the training of drug abuse prevention scientists by nurturing scientists focused on integrating prevention science and highly innovative methodology.
The objective of PAMT is to produce scientists who apply innovative methods to emerging critical research needs in the prevention of substance use and addiction. We do this in the context of Penn State’s long-standing dual commitment to innovation in data collection, design, and statistical analysis methods and to impactful research on the etiology and prevention of substance use and addiction across the life span.
To achieve trainees’ individualized training goals, the program offers
- interdisciplinary instruction on substance use, prevention science, and innovative methods;
- mentored experiential training in all aspects of research;
- training in professional skills and the responsible conduct of research;
- proseminars including workshops on substance use and addiction, innovative methods, prevention science, and health equity;
- a biennial orientation to the NIH with opportunities to meet with program officers; and
- formal training of postdoctoral fellows in NIH grant-writing, leading to many successful F31, R03, and K99 grant submissions.
PAMT is administered through the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center. Drs. Jennifer Maggs and Stephanie Lanza, Program Directors, and Dr. Rina Eiden, Associate Training Director, lead the program as distinguished substance use researchers with expertise in prevention science and innovative methods.
Faculty mentors are leaders in substance use, prevention science, and innovative methods, with strong track records of NIH support and mentorship of early career scholars. These faculty mentors span disciplines such as human development and family studies, biobehavioral health, sociology/criminology, psychology, and engineering. Many are affiliated with the Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction.
PAMT trainees are engaged in cutting-edge work that rigorously integrates new methods into prevention research, providing a seamless, holistic approach to understanding and preventing drug abuse. More than 100 individuals already have been trained through PAMT; many of these fellows have gone on to work at the forefront of this critical area all across the United States.
View the PAMT Program Faculty and Mentors