Minding A Mid-America Gap: NIDA/NIAAA Epidemiology Research Training for Clinical Researchers and Clinicians in Currently Under-Served Areas

The project is an NIH R25 science education initiative designed to address a documented deficiency in epidemiology-focused clinical research training and active NIDA investments across mid-America. Originating from mapping of NIH Project Reporter data that revealed a major mid-America gap in NIDA Epidemiology Branch research and training activity, the program—termed EPIMAS (Epidemiology in mid-American States)—seeks to increase the number and preparedness of epidemiologically adept scientists in under-served mid-American states. The EPIMAS program is structured as a five-year NIDA R25 that blends two complementary components: a core program of Research Experiences (RE) and Courses for Skills Development (CSD). Those components are intended to prepare trainees to better leverage both existing large-scale datasets (for example, Monitoring the Future) and newly emerging resources (for example, ABCD, PATH, and 'All of Us'), and to capitalize on NIDA- and NIH-supported workshops aimed at harvesting epidemiological evidence from these datasets.

EPIMAS is founded on a four-university consortium formed to redress an imbalance in the distribution of NIDA T32 training programs and R01 research projects in the region. The lead partner is Michigan State University (MSU), led by Professor Jim Anthony. Consortium partners include West Virginia University (WVU) with local site PI Professor Gordon Smith, Kansas University (KU) with local site PI Professor Richard Yi, and Indiana University (IU) with local site PI Professor David Allison. Together the institutions bring complementary strengths to deliver a coordinated, regionally focused training program intended to: increase the pool of scientists capable of applying basic and advanced epidemiological analysis approaches; prepare clinicians and clinical researchers for competitive applications to NIDA funding mechanisms (including F-type, early K-type, and R-type awards); and foster new or renovated NIDA Epidemiology-focused T32 training programs at partner institutions, including renovating the NIDA Drug Dependence Epidemiology Training Program at MSU.

The EPIMAS initiative emphasizes capacity building through experiential research training and targeted coursework to make investigators regionally and nationally competitive for epidemiology-focused funding and contributions to substance use disorder science. The program intends to enhance trainees' abilities to participate in, and benefit from, NIH and NIDA workshops that synthesize evidence from both longstanding and newly available datasets. EPIMAS is positioned as an unprecedented R25 investment by the NIDA Epidemiology Branch in this region and is described as a cooperative enterprise among the four partner universities to amplify epidemiology education, career development and the generation of epidemiologic evidence addressing substance use and addiction in mid-America.