Training and Education

As a central part of its mission and philosophy, CHGD is committed to providing research training opportunities for students at all levels. Working in this setting provides not only state-of-the-field disciplinary research training, but also exchange and collaboration across disciplines and units that do not often occur within the usual departmental structure. Student involvement in research projects is actively encouraged, and is viewed as beneficial to both the student and the project and vitally important to the future of research in the areas targeted by the Center. Research training is offered at the Center through formalized training programs, participation in research teams, and individual student research activities.

During the past five years, over 200 undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral trainees- representing more than 20 different academic units - worked at the Center. An additional 74 trainees participated in the Center's MIRT program.

MHIRT Program
The Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) Program is funded by the Fogarty International Center and the National Center on Minnority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health. With sustained funding since 1994 (and renewed funding through 2010), this program is a major commitment in faculty and staff effort at CHGD.

The purpose of the NIH's MHIRT iniative is to:
(1) increase the representation of socially or economically disadvantaged groups who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral science research careers and; (2) support the research training of students who will most likely contribute to the elimination of health disparities that exist among disadvantaged populations in the U.S.

CHGD's MHIRT program provides intensive, active research experience in child health and development in developing countries. The program is a collaborative effort between biomedical and behavioral researchers at the University of Michigan and several distinguished foreign research institutes.

A total of 279 trainees have participated over the fourteen years of this program: 203 undergraduates, 25 medical students, 51 graduate students, and 9 faculty members. Trainees have come from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and Social Work and from several departments within the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

The career paths of these students demonstrate that the University of Michigan MHIRT program is training individuals who are pursuing advanced degrees and training in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.

CHGD is pleased to have provided research mentors for over 139 UROP, 13 SROP, 4 Summer Science Academy, and 12 Biomedical Summer Fellowship students over the past five years. Projects have included: iron deficiency and infant behavior; the Michigan Family Study; the Ypsilanti Nutrition Project; reducing infant stress during immunizations; infant mental health research training; iron deficiency anemia during early rat development; infant cognition; and cross-cultural studies of learning achievement.

• The Infant Cognition Project, headed by Wellman, involved more than 25 students over the past two years including: 2 postdoctoral scholars, 3 doctoral students from psychology, 3 masters students from social work, public health and education, and more than 15 undergraduate students.
• The Michigan Family Study, headed by McDonough, involved almost 100 students over the past two years including 5 doctoral students from social work and/or developmental and clinical psychology, 5 MSW students, 14 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) students, 14 student volunteers, and over 50 graduate and undergraduates work-study students.
• Projects on iron deficiency and development, involving Lozoff, Felt, and Angulo-Barroso, offer opportunities for students from a variety of disciplines. A total of 35 students have participated over the past two years. There have been 2 post-doctoral scholars, 2 graduate students in psychology, 4 graduate students in public health, 2 graduate students in kinesiology, 1 graduate student in comparative literature, 2 medical students, and 22 undergraduate students. In addition, junior faculty from pediatrics, public health, psychology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, kinesiology, and education have participated in ongoing research training in conjunction with the iron deficiency studies.
• The Training Program in Research Diagnoses of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (Catherine Lord, PI) offers training workshops that are attended by researchers interested in learning to use the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). These two instruments have become the gold standard for autism research in the world. Workshops in the clinical use of the ADOS are also provided to practitioners including pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and speech therapists. In the last few years, over 200 trainees from diverse disciplines have attended these workshops. We are also currently training 'trainers' from the U.S. and other countries who can provide such workshops in their own countries.
• The Michigan Longitudinal Study, headed by Olson, involved more than 30 students over the past 3 years, including 8 doctoral students from psychology, one from the joint doctoral progam in social work and psychology, and 22 undergraduate students. In addition, linkages have been made with the Institute of Psychology in Beijing to study cross-cultural variations in parental belief systems, and with CHGD scientists, Vasquez and Felt, to examine neuroendocrine bases of highly aggressive behavior in young children.

• Development, Psychopathology, and Mental Health Certificate Program (Hagen, Olson, Sameroff, Schulenberg)
• Faculty Development in General Pediatrics (Gahagan, Lozoff)
• Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health in South Africa (Nriagu)
• Poverty Risk and Mental Health (Lozoff, McDonough, Sameroff)
• Training Grant in Developmental Psychology (Hagen, Lord, McLoyd, Morrison, Olson, Sameroff, Schulenberg, Wellman)
• Mental Health Research Psychiatry Training Program (Vazquez)
• Training in Interdiciplinary Translational Research from Behavior to Biological Measures (Gahagan, McDonough, Neal, Sameroff, Vazquez)
• LIFE: The Life Course: Evolutionary and Ontogenetic Dynamics -- a collaborative research training program between U of M and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin (Lozoff, Wellman)
• NIDA Neuroscience Training Program (Vazquez)
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training (Angulo)
• Cellular and Molecular Biology in Pediatrics Training Program (Barks, Neal, Vazquez)
• Training in Interdisciplinary Research on Substance Use and Life Span Research on Alcoholism (Schulenberg)
• Training and Research in Youth Violence Prevention in South Africa (Zimmerman)
• Early Stage Training in the Neurosciences (Vazquez)