Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment - Emphasis on PTSD at National Center for PTSD Clinical Neurosciences Division
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VA Connecticut Health Care System
West Haven, Connecticut
Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training
This training experience is a planned and programmed sequence of training that aims to ensure preparation for advanced practice rather than one that is focused on providing supervised hours for licensure.
Yes
This training experience ensures that training takes precedence over service delivery regarding the nature, content, volume, and quality of the postdoc’s activities.
Yes
This training experience ensures that postdocs receive at least two hours of individual supervision per week for the duration oof the experience.
Yes
This training experience is administered by a doctoral-level licensed psychologist who directs and organizes the training experience and its resources, is responsible for the selection of postdocs, and monitors and evaluates the goals and activities of the experience.
Yes
This training experience has two or more doctoral-level licensed psychologists who have sufficient time to provide quality supervision and training.
Yes
This training experience includes regularly scheduled structured educational activities that help postdocs its defined goals. These activities may include didactics, seminars, case conferences, and/or research activities.
Yes
This training experience has written Due Process and Grievance procedures.
Yes
This training experience has the stable and necessary financial (e.g., stipend) and physical resources (e.g., computers, physical space) needed for effective training.
Yes
The VA Office of Academic Affiliations is sponsoring a VA Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS), West Haven campus, with academic affiliate Yale School of Medicine. The VA Advanced Fellowship Program offers individualized, mentored clinical research and clinical training in two high priority emphasis areas— substance use disorders and dual diagnosis (SUD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These emphasis areas are supported through two major VA research infrastructures: the Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and the National Center for PTSD (NC-PTSD) Clinical Neurosciences Division. Each year, the fellowship recruits two postdoctoral psychology trainees for a two-year Fellowship, one in SUD/dual diagnosis at the MIRECC and one in PTSD at the NC-PTSD.
Additional Information
- Agency Type
- VA Medical Center
- APPIC Membership
- Yes
- APA Accredited
- No
- Emphasis or focus area
- PTSD (Trauma)
- Other Emphasis
- Substance Use Disorder/ Dual Diagnosis
- Research Time
- 51-75%
- Training Director
- Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD
- Contact Email
- ilan.harpaz-rotem@va.gov
- Contact Phone
- 203-932-5711 x8642
- Duration in Months
- 24
- Hours Per Week
- 40
- # of Licensed Supervisors
- 19
- Number of Positions
- 1
- Applications recieved last year
- 4
- Accepts Int'l Students
- Stipend
- $61658
- Will follow APPIC Selection Standards
- Created Date
- Friday, November 4 2016
- Unfilled Positions
- 0
- Fringe Benefits
- Year 1 stipend is $61,658 with a stipend increase to $64,489 in year 2.
Access to medical insurance is available (with cost contribution from fellow) for fellow, legally married spouse, and dependents.
Fellows accrue 4 hours of sick leave and 4 hours of annual leave (vacation) for each full two week pay period, for a total of between 96 and 104 hours of each during the year.
In addition to the above leave, Fellows receive the 11 annual federal holidays.
Authorized absence (traveling off site for professional activities) may be available for eligible events like academic conferences.
Liability protection for trainees: When providing professional services at a VA healthcare facility, VA sponsored trainees acting within the scope of their educational programs are protected from personal liability under the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act 28, U.S.C.2679 (b)-(d).
Fellows are eligible for life insurance.
Fellows are eligible to enroll in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
- Research opportunities
- Fellows develop individualized research plans with an appointed VA/Yale primary research mentor. A primary research mentor meets weekly with the fellow to establish and supervise the fellow’s training plan. Typical training plans also include collaboration and papers with at least one collaborating faculty member.
Many Fellows write a training grant to fund a subsequent 2-5 years of mentored research, such as a national or regional VA career development award or NIH K award. Our site has a strong track record: 50% of the regional Veterans Integrated Service Network career development awards funded in 2021 were awarded to VA Connecticut trainees.
PRIMARY MENTORS at the NCPTSD: Areas of expertise at the Clinical Neurosciences Division of NC-PTSD include psychosocial and genetic epidemiology of PTSD and related disorders (Robert Pietrzak, PhD); decision making, learning, aging, PTSD, neuroimaging (Ifat Levy, PhD); receptor imaging, PET, fMRI, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, cognition (Irina Esterlis, PhD); treatment and neurobiology of stress related disorders (Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD; see www.ptsdstresslab.org); genetic of psychiatric illness, including PTSD, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, with both molecular level studies (genetic polymorphism, sequence variation) and population genetics methods (Joel Gelernter, MD); relationship between the endocannabinoid system and PTSD, early childhood trauma and addiction (Anahita Bassir Nia, MD); pharmacotherapy for PTSD and SUD and other substance use disorder (Ismene Petrakis, MD); trauma-focused treatment for comorbid PTSD and SUD and treatment engagement and retention among individuals with psychiatric comorbidities (Sarah Meshberg-Cohen, PhD);
COLLABORATING FACULTY: Collaborating faculty who may work with fellows include faculty at the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) with expertise in medication development and testing for nicotine and cocaine addictions, e-cigarettes, sex differences in tobacco use, and genetics research (Mehmet Sofuoglu, MD, PhD); motivational interviewing, SBIRT, implementation science, and behavioral clinical trial design (Steve Martino, PhD); social determinants of health and addiction (Marc Rosen, MD); pharmacotherapy and other treatments for PTSD and SUD (Ismene Petrakis, MD); ecological momentary assessment, chronic pain, opioid use disorder (R. Ross MacLean, PhD); suicide prevention in high-risk groups, effectiveness and implementation of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills groups, behavioral intervention evaluation (Suzanne Decker, PhD); epidemiological and program evaluation research, system and program performance monitoring and performance metrics, and mental health informatics (Rani Hoff, MPH, PhD); trauma-focused treatment for comorbid PTSD and SUD and treatment engagement and retention among individuals with psychiatric comorbidities (Sarah Meshberg-Cohen, PhD); cognitive and social cognitive psychosocial interventions for individuals with serious mental illness (Joanna Fiszdon, PhD).
Additional collaborating faculty include those with expertise in gambling, compulsive sexual, binge-eating, internet-use and impulsive or risk-taking behaviors (Marc Potenza, MD, PhD); ketamine (John Krystal, MD); engagement in PTSD treatment, and PTSD and sleep (Jason DeViva, PhD); sex differences in intersection of substance use and stress-related disorders (Mackenzie Peltier, PhD); sociodemographic variables and treatment outcomes, particularly racial health disparities (Minnah Farook, PhD); intersection of cannabis use and psychosis; metacognition; neurocognition; simultaneous MEG/EEG (Ashley Martin, PhD).
All faculty have websites with details about their interests at https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/people/ We encourage potential applicants to peruse faculty websites to find matches for their specific research interests, and to contact potential mentors directly with any specific questions about potential projects or available datasets. Please contact Fellowship Director with other specific questions about mentorship.
- Additional Comments
- **Please note that start dates are tailored to the individual selected, and are typically set between 7/1 and 9/1 of the academic year. This allows us to accommodate eligible applicants who receive the doctoral degree after 7/1.***
Special note for individuals who are completing a VA predoctoral internship: converting from an intern salary to a postdoc salary within a pay period is not permitted. Therefore, individuals who wish to go from a VA internship to a VA postdoc without a break in service (e.g., internship until 6/30, fellowship starting 7/1) must continue on at the intern salary for the duration of the last internship pay period. This would reduce the advertised postdoctoral fellowship salary accordingly for one pay period. The alternative would be to terminate internship at the appointed date, then begin VA postdoctoral fellowship at the start of a new pay period to receive the entire fellowship training year at the full advertised salary.
**Please note that the date an offer is made to applicants is flexible to accommodate the interview schedule**.
- Application Instructions
- Interested psychologists who meet the eligibility requirements should send the following materials to the Fellowship Director via email:
CV, titled Lastname_CV
A statement of interest that addresses the following, titled Lastname_Cover letter:
1) Fellowship track (PTSD)
2) Your research area(s) of interest within your track area
3) Research goals you hope to achieve on fellowship
4) Specific NC-PTSD faculty of interest as potential primary research mentor
5) Specific faculty of interest as potential collaborating faculty
6) Clinical goals for fellowship
Three letters of recommendation from supervisors familiar with your work. Include at least one letter from a research mentor and at least one letter from a clinical supervisor. Title these letters Lastname_LOR_research_Letter writer’s name or
Lastname_LOR_clinical_Letter writer’s name
Graduate school transcripts (unofficial are acceptable for application; official will be required if selected)
**Please note that start dates are tailored to the individual selected and are typically set between 7/1 and 9/1 of the academic year. This allows us to accommodate eligible applicants who receive the doctoral degree after 7/1.***
This record was last updated on Tuesday, August 20, 2024
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