DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Carolina Population Center (CPC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) requests a five-year continuation of NICHD support for its training program in demography and the social and health sciences. The CPC training program combines a firm base in a social science or health discipline with formal training in core demography and research-based training in population. Hallmarks of the program are its multidisciplinarity, the integration of the social and health sciences, and the interdisciplinary and team orientation of much of the training and research. Continued support is requested for 10 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral traineeships per year. Sixty-five faculty fellows of the Carolina Population Center, holding primary appointments in 16 UNC-CH departments, provide an unusually rich environment for interdisciplinary research as training faculty and potential preceptors. In addition, Center research support services for trainees and faculty are truly outstanding. CPC's predoctoral training program combines disciplinary degrees with training in population research. Predoctoral trainees meet the course, dissertation, and other requirements of their home departments. They also meet Center requirements, including: a research practicum supervised by a CPC faculty fellow; completion of at least four approved graduate-level population and population-focused methods courses; training in the responsible conduct of research; participation in interdisciplinary population seminars and workshops; and attendance at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA). The 42 predoctoral trainees during AY 2012-13 are registered in the PhD programs of 10 departments across campus. The postdoctoral training program is designed around the mutual population research interests of trainees and faculty fellows. The 12 postdoctoral scholars during AY 2012-13 hold doctorates in eight disciplines. Postdoctoral scholars are admitted directly to the Center and collaborate with individual faculty preceptors, generally for a period of two years. CPC support to predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees includes statistical consultation from professors in three disciplines, outstanding information services with an in-house library, graphics and publication assistance (e.g., poster preparation, editing), a state-of-the art spatial analysis uni, a large and experienced computer staff (e.g., research programming; web support; systems; data entry) and assistance with biomedical specimens (if needed). All trainees have office space at the Center and with it many opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange with faculty and other trainees.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The NICHD/NRSA-supported Population Research Training program, now in its 35th year, is a long-standing interdisciplinary training program in population focused social and health sciences. The Carolina Population Center (CPC) training program combines a firm base in a social science or health discipline, with formal training in core demography and research-based training in population science. Hallmarks of the program are its multidisciplinarity, the integration of the social and health sciences, and the interdisciplinay and team orientation of much of the training and research, in addition to emerging foci in the areas of biomarker/genetic influences and global health, all from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.