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Fellowship Title: |
US Psychiatric Genetics Research Training Program |
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Fellowship Description: |
The goal of this training program is to provide U.S. biomedical scientists (MD and PhD) with the skills needed to study the genetic basis of mental illness in the American Latino population. This training program includes opportunities to learn psychiatric genetics research methodologies, through direct involvement with several NIH funded genetics research projects on mental illnesses in Latinos being conducted at the Psychiatric Genetics Center (PGC) at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). We currently have a training program in psychiatric genetics for mental health professionals from Costa Rica and Latin America (funded by the NIMH and the Fogarty International Center), and one goal of the research is to foster psychiatric research collaborations between new U.S, investigators and investigators from Latin America.
Training will cover five main areas: 1) Characterization of psychiatric phenotypes and endophenotypes (including brain imaging and neurocognitive measures), 2) Cultural competence as applied to research in Latino populations, 3) Molecular biology methods and techniques for the mapping and identification of genes which predispose to mental illness in the Latino population, 4) Statistical analysis of collected data and 5) Ethics of psychiatric genetics research with cross-ethnic populations.
Stipends are available for all levels of this program.
This program proposes to provide training along three tracks: Track 1 consisting of 9 months of training for PGY III and IV Psychiatry Residents. Track 2 consists of 2 to 3 year clinical research fellowships for Psychiatrists and/or Psychologists (expected to have recently completed their specialty training). Track 3 will consist of 2 to 3 years of training for basic science post-doctoral trainees. Students may also elect to focus their research primarily on clinical, pharmacogenetics, statistical genetics methods or ethics of genetics research as these apply to Latino patients and families. At the completion of their training, students will have acquired expertise in the field of Psychiatric Genetics, in conducting ethical, effective research with Hispanic populations and in developing collaborative endeavors with researchers from the U.S. and Latin America.
The principal goal of our current training program is to provide investigators with the ability to design and carry out psychiatric genetic research studies in the Latino population of the United States and to collaborate with other researchers in Latino Mental Health in the United States and Latin America. |
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URL Address: |
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E-mail: |
escamillam@uthscsa.edu and cc to garciaee@uthscsa.edu |
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Contact: |
Michael A. Escamilla, M.D.
Associate Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio
Mary Weir Professorship in Psychiatry
603 Navarro Suite 1200
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 562-5100 |
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Fellowship Title: |
US/Costa Rica Psychiatric Genetics Research Training Program |
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Fellowship Description: |
This program is aimed at developing a core of researchers in the area of psychiatric genetics research, from the country of Costa Rica (or other Latin American countries). The training program builds on existing collaborative research projects between the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), currently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Fogarty International Center.
The program provides training for two tracks of students. Track 1 students will be psychiatrists/psychologists from Costa Rica (or other Latin American country) who have finished residency training and are committed to a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in psychiatric genetics research. Track 2 students will be PhD pre-doctoral students, who will be trained both at UTHSCSA and at UCR, in the field of psychiatric genetics. This program will teach ethics and social issues related to psychiatric genetic research and will also provide clinical training in psychiatric and molecular biology training in genetics research. Students may also elect to focus their research primarily on statistical genetics methods or ethics of genetics research. At the completion of this five year program, a core of Costa Rican researchers, both clinical MDs and basic science PhDs, with expertise in the field of psychiatric genetics will have been trained and will have completed research work in this area in their home country.
Stipends are available for all levels of this program.
This program is intended to create a self-sufficient cadre of Costa Rican researchers in this area, to conduct both independent and true collaborative research with other countries in the future. |
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URL Address: |
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E-mail: |
escamillam@uthscsa.edu and cc to garciaee@uthscsa.edu |
|
Contact: |
Michael A. Escamilla, M.D.
Associate Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio
Mary Weir Professorship in Psychiatry
603 Navarro Suite 1200
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 562-5100 |
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