Psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions in children are common, often co-occurring, and can lead to lifelong challenges that impact quality of life. Moreover, psychiatric disorders that typically do not fully manifest until adulthood, such as schizophrenia, have their roots in development. The relevance of brain development to understanding psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions underscores the importance of supporting a pipeline of investigators trained in research that characterizes when and how differences in brain development manifest. The Duke-North Carolina Central University (NCCU)-Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program in Child Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Conditions (DN-IPT) will focus on research training in developmental approaches aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of child psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions including research on developmental antecedents to adulthood psychiatric disorders. The DN-IPT will enroll three new postdoctoral (MD, MD/PhD, and PhD) fellows per year to become independent researchers through a 2–3-year course of training. The DN-IPT will provide Trainees with focused, rigorous, in-depth training in a) our central theme of an interdisciplinary, developmental neuroscience research approach; and b) one or more of five research methodologies to interrogate this theme: (1) brain imaging; (2) computational approaches; (3) digital health; (4) interventions; and (5) preclinical models. Cutting across all trainings, the DN-IPT will emphasize the core values of increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion. A key strength of the DN-IPT is the partnership between Duke University School of Medicine (DUSM) and North Carolina Central University (NCCU), one of the largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the US, which is co-located with the DUSM in Durham, NC. The strong DUSM-NCCU partnership is reflected in DN-IPT Faculty Mentors and Trainees at both institutions, joint trainings and seminars, student research internships, and Program Directors (MPIs) at both institutions. In addition, the DN-IPT will add needed geographic diversity to NIMH T32 programs. Fewer than 10% of the NIMH-funded T32 programs are in US Southern states (while nearly 40% of the US population live in the South), limiting the recruitment and engagement of promising trainees. Our concurrent focus on both child psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions is a unique and synergistic strength of the DN-IPT in light of the high degree of co-occurrence of these conditions and their combined impact on a wide range of outcomes. Finally, the DN-IPT will help fill the concerning gap in child psychiatrist-scientists. We are particularly well positioned to recruit and train child psychiatrists with a child psychiatry residency that includes physician scientists, strong institutional support to train physician scientists, and robust representation of child psychiatrist-scientists in the DN-IPT. In sum, the DN-IPT will train the next generation of developmentally oriented researchers, increasing the diversity of investigators, and setting the stage for advances in the diagnosis and treatment of child psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions.

The Duke-North Carolina Central University (NCCU)-Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program in Child Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Conditions (DN-IPT) is a partnership between Duke University School of Medicine and North Carolina Central University which will provide two to three years of intensive postdoctoral interdisciplinary research training to MD, PhD, and MD/PhD recipients with a focus on child psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions, as well as the developmental origins of adult psychiatric disorders. The DN-IPT will provide Trainees with focused, rigorous, in-depth training in a) our central theme of an interdisciplinary, developmental neuroscience research approach; and b) one or more of five research methodologies to interrogate this theme: (1) brain imaging; (2) computational approaches; (3) digital health; (4) interventions; and (5) preclinical models with an emphasis on enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at all phases of the research process.