This is an Institutional National Research Service Award to support multidisciplinary post-doctoral training in Genetic Epidemiology, Molecular Genetics and Genomics. Postdoctoral fellows train in Genetic Methodology, Family Epidemiology and Behavior Genetics, Gene Mapping and Bioinformatics, Molecular Genetics, and Genomics. In addition to training in a primary area, fellows are encouraged to obtain a broad understanding of the diverse skills in Psychiatric Genetics to facilitate their collaboration in (and leadership of) cross-disciplinary research teams. The fellowship will usually last three years, but one or two years may suffice for those with much pertinent experience. Fellows with a wide variety of backgrounds are recruited including; Psychology, Psychiatry, Genetics, Statistics, Mathematics, Anthropology, Sociology, Biology, and Neuroscience.
The training program uses an apprenticeship model, combining research under the mentorship of one or more experienced mentors with more formal training through seminars, didactic courses and individual reading. Major strengths of the program are; (i) the participation of a large multidisciplinary group of well-funded preceptors (n=23) with expertise in statistical and computational genetics, molecular genetics and neuroscience; (ii) the study of quantitative and qualitative traits and the development of methods for the analysis of multivariate phenotypes and (iii) the availability of major epidemiological and genetic data sets (phenotypes and genotypes). Fellows may participate in ongoing Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, ADHD, Electrophysiological measures of CNS activity, Personality traits and Nicotine Dependence. We anticipate analysis of sequence data to become a future emphasis.