The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), one of 27 federal research institutes comprising the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the nation’s largest supporter of research scientists seeking answers to the problems of drug use and addiction. As a key component of its vision and mission, NIDA offers extramural grant funding opportunities to support the development of addiction research scientists across their careers. These awards are designed to ensure a diverse biomedical research workforce focused on reducing the profound socioeconomic impact of drug abuse and addiction.
The objective of the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) program is to support institutional training programs focused on the research training and professional development of a next generation of biomedical, behavioral and clinical career scientists relevant to the NIH mission. NIDA currently supports a national network of 57 such institutional T32 training programs focused on predoctoral and/or postdoctoral research training of a diverse and highly trained addiction research workforce. The number and types of training positions available within each program varies with each award.
The UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program (Translational Training in Addiction) is currently in its 18th year of continuous grant support and has supported the scientific and professional development of 17 predoctoral and 29 postdoctoral trainees, as well as 59 first-year medical students in summer addiction research and eight psychiatry resident physicians. Our trainees have all completed the training program and have acquired academic, private industry, and federal career positions in addiction science and medicine. Prominent events in the history of the UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program include the following.
- The UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program was initially funded in July 2009, with Warren Bickel, Ph.D. as the initial Program Director (PD).
- Alan Budney, Ph.D. became the second PD in 2011 when Dr Bickel left UAMS
- The first postdoctoral candidate completed the T32 training fellowship in 2010.
- When Dr Budney left UAMS in 2012, Clint Kilts, Ph.D., became the third T32 PD.
- Following Dr. Kilt’s retirement in 2024, William Fantegrossi, Ph.D., and Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., served as co-directors of the program.
- Effective July 1, 2026, Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., serves as the director of the NIDA Institutional Research Training Grant, with Jure Baloh, Ph.D., and Mollee Steely Smith, Ph.D., serving as co-associate directors.
- The UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program was competitively renewed for five years of renewed support by NIDA on July 1, 2014, and again on July 1, 2019. The competing renewal application for the UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program was submitted in 2023, with Drs Melissa Zielinski and Bill Fantegrossi as new PDs, and received an outstanding priority score.
- The UAMS NIDA T32 Training Program has also supported summer addiction research internships for rising second-year UAMS medical students since 2015, providing early exposure to addiction science research and fostering the development of future investigators in the field.