T32 Training Programs

Two training programs at Columbia will be integrated into PHIOS to leverage, and build upon, existing training structures at the university. PHIOS will engage T32 fellows from the Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program (T32-DA031099, Director: Dr. Deborah Hasin, co-Director: Dr. Silvia Martins) and the Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System (T32-DA037801, Directors: Drs. Lisa Metsch and Nabila El-Bassel) in the PHIOS projects and provide mentorship and support to junior scientists: junior faculty, fellows, and postdoctoral students. 

The objectives of the training programs are to provide well-qualified junior scientists with a strong foundation in relevant substantive and methodological areas that will prepare them for successful careers and leadership in substance abuse epidemiology. The training programs offer an intensive program to train pre-and postdoctoral fellows to use epidemiologic methods (study designs, analytic techniques) to understand the onset, course, and consequences of substance use and SUDs in various settings and populations, with the ultimate goal of transforming such knowledge into actions that mitigate the distress and disability associated with these conditions.

T32 Research Fellowship in Substance Abuse Epidemiology

The Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program at Columbia University trains individuals from different disciplines for careers and leadership in substance abuse epidemiology. We train pre- and post-doctoral fellows to use epidemiologic methods to understand the onset, course and consequences of substance abuse, and to transform such understanding into actions that mitigate the terrible toll substance abuse takes on individuals and on society. This training program is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. It is a joint enterprise between the Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, and the Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, located in the Columbia University Medical Center.

T32 Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System

The mission of the training program is to provide training to the next generation of pre- and post- doctoral scholars in the prevention, treatment, and care of HIV and drug abuse among individuals in the criminal justice system with a strong emphasis on individuals involved in alternatives to incarceration and community supervision (e.g., diversion programs, probation, and community and drug courts) who are affected by health disparities.

This is the first NIDA grant multidisciplinary training program that brings together 32 faculty members from the Columbia School of Social Work and the Mailman School of Public Health, who will participate in interdisciplinary mentoring. The training program is well positioned at Columbia University, given its geographic location in New York City, which ranks extremely high amongst cities that have the greatest rates of incarceration and community supervision of racial/ethnic minority groups, as well as the highest rates of HIV and drug abuse.