NIDA T32 Training Program
University of Florida Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health

The Department of Epidemiology at the University of Florida (UF) announces a NIDA Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health. The T32 training program, directed by Linda B. Cottler, will support five pre-docs and three post-docs each year.

The justification for the T32 is:

• Increased health disparities related to the harmful consequences of drug use
• A significant shortage of scientists in the drug abuse field
• Our strong academic and research environment at UF, which is ripe for producing public health oriented scientists and clinicians
• The underrepresentation of NIDA and other NIH T32 training programs in the southeast region of the US
• A strong and enthusiastic group of mentors who have an excellent track record to train nationally and internationally prominent substance abuse researchers
• The commitment of the state and UF’s President to be a top public university, which brings additional resources for research

The core innovative aspect of this new public health oriented T32 is the focus on the epidemiology and prevention of substance use and its consequences and co-morbidities, with a focus on social determinants of health and health inequalities, and the development of behavioral interventions to reduce substance use and its harmful consequences. The training program is crafted with a clear application to practice and public health both domestically and internationally.

The program will:

• Train talented individuals to independently work from the individual level (behavioral interventions) to the population level (exposure and consequences of addiction) to eliminate health inequalities related to substance use and its consequences
• Provide trainees with an apprenticeship style education to master skills to critically evaluate data, conduct multiple aspects of addiction research and become successful, and independent investigators who contribute to the field
• Train individuals to understand, apply and maintain the highest ethical standards in their science and scholarship as socially responsible investigators

The program is co-directed by Sara Jo Nixon, Professor and Co-Vice Chair of Psychiatry.

Program Directors

Linda B Cottler PhD, MPH, FACE

Dean’s Professor Of Epidemiology

Phone: (352) 294-5947

Email: lbcottler@ufl.edu

Full Profile

Sara J Nixon Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor & Co-Vice Chair

Phone: (352) 294-4920

Email: sjnixon@ufl.edu

Full Profile

Program Mentors

Program Administrative Assistant:

Tamara Millay, Administrative Specialist II, (352) 294-5963, tmillay@ufl.edu

Meet Our Trainees

	Trainee	Status	Mentor(s)
	Maeve Boylan	Postdoctoral	Scott
	Skye Bristol	Postdoctoral	Johnson
	Alex Clement	Predoctoral	Gabrielli
	Christian Conger	Predoctoral	Cottler
	Liva LaMontagne	Postdoctoral	Lopez-Quintero
	Kayla McNeely	Predoctoral	Chichetto
	Vijaya Seegulam	Predoctoral	Cottler
	Daniel Van Zant	Predoctoral	Barenholtz

Former Trainees

	Trainee	Status	Mentor	Current Position
	Shantrel Canidate	Postdoctoral	Robert Cook	Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, University of Florida
	Hannah Crooke	Predoctoral	Catherine Striley	Global HEOR Customer Initiatives Lead, Boehringer Ingleheim
	Lisa Domenico	Postdoctoral	Anna McDaniel	Assistant Professor, University of Florida
	Eugene Dunne	Predoctoral	Nicole Ennis	Assistant Professor, Temple University
	Kathleen Egan	Postdoctoral	Linda Cottler	Associate Professor, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
	Amy Elliott	Predoctoral	Linda Cottler	Data Scientist, Kindbridge Research Institute
	Alyssa Falise	Predoctoral	Catherine Striley	Research Associate, American College of Medical Toxicology
	Melissa Fenton	Postdoctoral	Catherine Striley	Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
	Nicole Fitzgerald	Predoctoral	Linda Cottler	NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Columbia University
	Laura Gonzalez Paz	Predoctoral	Linda Cottler	Project Manager II, Kaiser Permanente

Application Instructions

Send all of the following documents to Tamara Millay. Documents should be addressed to Dr. Linda B. Cottler, Director, and Dr. Sara Jo Nixon, Co-Director.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.