The Career Development Core provides a variety of training opportunities to support the development of the next generation of transdisciplinary scientists to advance our knowledge of the complex social, cultural, biological, and environmental determinants of tobacco use and alcohol co-morbidity.

The core has established a comprehensive recruitment strategy to attract promising trainees from the graduate student to established investigator level for training in transdisciplinary tobacco use prevention and tobacco and alcohol comorbidity research.  The core also facilitates cross project and core training in research methods, measurement development, behavioral genetics, and prevention program development guided by mentors from relevant academic disciplines and skilled in the practice of transdisciplinary prevention research.

It provides expanded transdisciplinary training through scheduled seminars and collaboration with the USC Transdisciplinary Drug Abuse Prevention Center (TPRC), other non-TTURC substance abuse researchers, other departments and schools at CGU, other TTURCs, and public health institutions in China.  This training encompasses community and ethical issues that impact behavioral and genetics research both domestically and abroad.

The core also administers the center’s development pilot research program designed to facilitate new collaborations and opportunities to pursue novel areas in transdisciplinary tobacco use and tobacco-alcohol comorbidity research.