Research Fellowship

This NIMH-sponsored multidisciplinary research training program is focused on geriatric mood disorders, which constitute a major clinical and public health problem.  Since mood disorders interact with a variety of biological, behavioral and psychosocial factors, the program provides rich opportunities for trainees to study complex research methodology.

To qualify, trainees should be physicians or Ph.D. scientists.  Research fellowships are typically for 2 years.  Training is provided through the teaching and research experience of a large multidisciplinary faculty with a 20 year history of productive scientific collaboration and strong personal ties.  The structures of an NIMH-supported Intervention Research Center, as well as a number of collaborating laboratories, and the multiple training programs of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, enrich the program's intellectual atmosphere and serve as sources of participant recruitment and as teaching sites for the research fellows.

The program includes seven training components:  1. Course of geriatric mood disorders;  2. Intervention research in nonpsychiatric populations;  3. Chronobiology and sleep disorders of aging;  4. Electrophysiology;  5. Psychiatric clinical service research;  6. Neuroimaging;  7. Geriatric clinical psychopharmacology.  Each trainee focuses on one of these components for most of his/her training but the remaining components are available for additional experience.

The training program employs the preceptor-trainee relationship in which the preceptor assists the trainee to develop a research project, to prepare an application for one of our three intramural competitive funding programs (exposure to review process) or other granting organizations, and to collect analyze and report research data.  A core curriculum is offered as well as formal courses, tutorials and a clinical experience tailored to the trainee's needs.