The Neurobiology of Drug Abuse Training Program is an institutional training grant that is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, beginning in 1991. The goal of this program is to provide training in the basic neurobiology of drug abuse and it is constructed to take full advantage of the broad, multi- disciplinary funded research in drug abuse at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The highly successful and well-funded drug abuse training faculty represent a wide range of research interests that provides a multi- disciplinary approach to training in the neurobiology of drug abuse, including:
- Molecular biology
- Receptor pharmacology
- Brain imaging techniques in humans and non-human primates
- Electrophysiology
- Neurochemistry
- Behavioral analysis of drug self- administration
The training program involves in-depth course work in the neurobiology of addiction, seminars and journal clubs for trainees as well as specialized components of courses dealing with grant writing, rigor and transparency in research, and ethics in scientific research.
Trainees develop excellent oral and written presentation skills, frequently winning travel, poster and presentation awards at national and international conferences. Our trainees have also been extraordinarily successful in obtaining individual fellowships from NIH, NSF and other funding entities. There are also multiple opportunities for trainees to hone their presentation skills.