Training

Fellowship Goals

The Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship in NeuroAIDs (IRFN), with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), provides training and mentoring to clinical and basic scientists interested in careers in neuroAIDS research.

Training experiences emphasize the interdisciplinary and translational nature of clinical problems in neuroAIDS in order to prepare future scientists to tackle emerging questions in the field.

The IRFN pairs trainees with mentors from clinical and basic science backgrounds according to their research interests, and provides a clinical literacy program in neuroAIDS for basic scientists.

IRFN Fellows are exposed to cutting-edge scientific environments and have contact with some of the most respected neuroAIDS researchers in the world.

About IRFN

Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship in NeuroAIDS (IRFN) is affiliated with the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Programs (HNRP) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The impetus for this educational program is driven by the idea that our future success in tackling the complex clinical disorders encountered in neuroAIDS depends on the availability of clinically-oriented researchers with training across relevant research disciplines. To this end, we have followed an interdisciplinary model of research training aimed at bridging the gaps left by single discipline approaches. Our program functions as a neuroAIDS-themed Special Institute emphasizing interdisciplinary and translational neuroAIDS research through three main programmatic components: an academic didactic program, a research component, and close mentoring by experts in the field, making available the talents of preclinical and clinically oriented neuroAIDS researchers at UCSD and the larger San Diego HIV research community. The IRFN provides each fellow with a structure for progression toward independence in order to consolidate their future success. Fellows will learn to approach neuroAIDS research questions from an interdisciplinary and translational perspective, with potential clinical applications as an essential end point of their work. The research experiences of IRFN fellows will be in the laboratories of high-caliber, internationally recognized neuroAIDS researchers.

Video Lectures

• IRFN Intro: A NIMH-Funded R25 Education Program – Mariana Cherner, PhD
• Central Nervous System Distribution of Antiretroviral Drugs – Scott Letendre, MD
• HIV Persistence, Reservoirs and Care – Ron Ellis, MD, PhD
• Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship in NeuroAIDS Seminar – Christine Fennema-Notestine, PhD
• Animal Models of NeuroAIDS & HAND – Marcus Kaul, PhD
• The cells that make you lose your nerves – Cecilia Marcondes, PhD
• The Role of the Microbiome in CNS Disorders – Scott Petterson, PhD
• Clinical HIV and Therapies – Sara Gianella Weibel, MD
• HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment in Hispanics/Latinos – Maria Marquine, PhD
• IRFN 2020 Graduation Event

How to Apply

The New Investigator Engagement Program recruits, supports, and follows the progress of graduate students, postdoctoral (Ph.D. or M.D.) fellows, and junior faculty in disciplines relevant to HNRC research. The objectives of the program is to assist enrollees with research training and experience in neuroAIDS through:

1. Matching of trainees with appropriate faculty mentors and monitoring the process to encourage effective interactions and career development;
2. Referral to and support for formal courses in methodology directly relevant to their research projects;
3. Mentoring in the design, data collection, analysis, presentation and publication of research studies and in the process of developing and submitting peer reviewed grant proposals;
4. Small grants or other aid to support their HNRC-related projects.

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Questions about the New Investigator Engagement Program

1. Who does the HNRC Train?

The HNRC is committed to tailoring our training opportunities to the backgrounds and interests of candidates from a variety of disciplines who join us with various levels of training and experience in research. We have and will continue to provide training and mentoring of medical students, doctoral students in clinical psychology, and postdoctoral fellows in Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology, and Psychology.

2. What Kind of Training Opportunities Are Available?

The length, intensity, and financial support of training at the HNRC is flexible. Commitments may range from brief (a few months) to several years, from part- to full-time, from voluntary to salaried. The goal may be a student M.D or Masters degree thesis, a Ph. D. thesis project, or an expanded post-doctoral training experience through involvement with several major studies. Salary support for post-doctoral fellows is available through a number of NIH and private fellowship programs. The HNRC Developmental Core has funds committed to the support of small pilot projects and supplemental training.

UCSD provides formal training in research methods thru its CTAS-sponsored Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI).  This UCSD extension-affiliated clinical research training program awards both Certificates (20 academic hours) and Master degrees (36 academic hours) in Clinical Research. These two programs, called "Clinical Research Enhancement Through Supplemental Training" (CREST, http://crest.ucsd.edu/) and “Master of Advanced Studies in Clinical Research” (MAS-CR), are designed for the working professional in any biomedical discipline, requiring only two hours a week in class.  UCSD-affiliated students receive a substantial discount in tuition, but the program is open to community members with the appropriate background in a clinical discipline.

In addition, advanced courses in UCSD graduate schools and seminar series in a variety of scientific areas abound in the rich research environment at and surrounding UCSD (the Salk, Scripps, Burnham, and many other research institutes are less than a mile from the UCSD campus in La Jolla).