Richard Saitz to Co-chair Transdisciplinary Addiction Science Training Program.

Richard Saitz, professor and chair of the Department of Community Health Sciences, will co-direct the Transformative Training Program in Addiction Science (TTPAS) with Dr. Lindsay Farrar, chief of biomedical genetics at BUSM.

The program, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, prepares doctoral students from across multiple BU graduate programs to apply diverse approaches to addiction research using tools from bench science, medicine, population studies, biostatistics, human behavioral neuroscience, and other disciplines. Timothy Hereen, a professor of biostatistics and an SPH faculty member since 1981, is stepping down from his role as co-director..

The TTPAS program seeks to bridge the gap between addiction researchers using clinical and epidemiological approaches and those conducting basic research in cells and animal models. In the past, the differences in language, skill sets or perspective has prevented these two key groups from collaborating effectively. With TTPAS, this unique, multi-disciplinary and transformative training program bridges this gap and assists in building a broad skill set through existing Boston University doctoral programs.

Through participation in coursework, rotations, the clinical module, seminars, and working groups, training fellows have many opportunities to interact with faculty and learn about faculty research interests as they determine their own areas of high interest.

As fellows identify potential co-mentors who will guide their research, they select one co-mentor who is a basic scientist and one whose expertise is in population or computational research. Of these two primary mentors, one is from their “home” PhD program and a second from a trans-discipline.