The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has funded its first two programs to train scientists to work at the critical juncture of behavioral and biomedical research. The programs are designed to integrate rigorous biomedical research training with training in basic behavioral research and to address health issues that cut across disciplines.
The new predoctoral training programs are led by Julie A. Fiez, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh; and Randall S. Larsen, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Fiez’s “Behavioral Brain Research Training Program” will provide graduate students who are committed to research at the interface of the behavioral and brain sciences with foundational training in both behavioral and neuroscience methods and approaches. This program is jointly coordinated with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.
Larsen’s “Training at the Interface of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Genetics” will develop basic behavioral scientists with rigorous, broad-based training in either neuroscience or genetics.
NIGMS announced its interest in funding predoctoral research training at the behavioral-biomedical sciences interface in July 2006, and the Fiez and Larsen applications were among the first group submitted in response. The funding opportunity is ongoing, so subsequent application cycles could lead to additional programs. For more information on this training activity, see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/PredocTrainingDescription.htm#behavioral.
