RDoC Educational and Training Resources
Overview
NIMH offers several research training and career development opportunities to help researchers apply RDoC principles to psychopathology research and clinical trials, as listed below.
If you have any questions about RDoC training programs or awards, please contact a member of the NIMH RDoC Unit.
To be notified when new opportunities have been added to the page, please subscribe to RDoC emails .
RDoC-Influenced Courses
Provided below are examples of courses and course-related materials that instructors at various institutions have developed around RDoC and its principles:
- Dr. Amit Etkin of Stanford University has generated a “proof of concept” neuroscience course that uses the dimensional nature of RDoC to bridge the rapid advances in psychiatric neuroscience and clinical education for trainees.
- Read more about it: Beyond the DSM: Development of a transdiagnostic psychiatric neuroscience course. Acad Psychiatry. 2014 Apr; 38(2): 145-50. PMID: 24493358
- Dr. Lawrence Fung of Stanford University undertook a survey to evaluate the attitudes of chairs of psychiatry departments, psychiatrists, and psychiatry trainees toward neuroscience education in residency programs and beyond.
- Dr. Sheldon Benjamin has discussed possible practices for how to integrate RDoC within the traditional DSM-based clinical training framework.
- Read more about it: A DSM-5 to-do list for adult psychiatry residency directors. Acad Psychiatry. 2014 Feb; 38(1): 67-71. PMID: 24419820
- Psychology 709-301: Transdiagnostic Processes in Psychopathology: Dr. Ayelet Meron Ruscio has developed a graduate psychopathology course organized around the RDoC framework, and we thank her for making the syllabus available.
- Instructors who wish to include RDoC papers in their syllabi may also want to consult the RDoC manuscripts page to find recent articles about various aspects of the framework.
If you have any RDoC-related training materials that you are willing to contribute to this list, please submit them via RDoCAdmin@mail.nih.gov. Feel free to email any questions you may have about training materials on RDoC as well. You can also follow RDoC @NIMH_RDoC and share your RDoC-related education and training resources with the unit by using #RDoC.
Webinar Series
The NIMH RDoC Unit schedules periodic webinars throughout the year on a variety of topics including information on RDoC policies and processes, which also allow for live audience participation. If you are unable to attend a scheduled webinar, recordings and transcripts will be made available following each session. To receive email updates on upcoming webinars and/or the availability of the archived video, please subscribe to the RDoC email listserv .
Past Webinars
- Using the RDoC Framework in Developmental Research (10-18-2017): The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Unit hosted a webinar focusing on developmental research conducted using RDoC-ian principles. This webinar brought together three researchers who discussed how they use a dimensional perspective and multiple methodologies (both core principles of RDoC) to study neurobehavioral mechanisms associated with various disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), anxiety, and ADHD.
- RDoC Reward Sensitivity and Depression: From Mechanism to Implementation (09-26-2017): The NIMH RDoC Unit, the Delaware Project , and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) hosted a webinar focusing on function and dysfunction in reward systems including anhedonia and other related constructs. Presenters discussed this topic from the standpoint of the basic pathological mechanisms, therapeutic techniques that address these mechanisms, and dissemination and implementation challenges that could make it difficult for practitioners to adopt and implement evidence-based techniques with fidelity.
- RDoC - Fear & Anxiety: From Mechanisms to Implementation (11-17-2016): The NIMH RDoC Unit, the Delaware Project , and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) hosted a webinar highlighting the role of fear and anxiety in disorders such as phobias and depression. Presenters discussed these topics from different perspectives, including basic laboratory research, treatment in clinics, and graduate school instruction for clinicians.
- Analyzing and Using RDoC Data in Your Research (05-10-2016): NIMH RDoC Unit hosted a webinar featuring three NIMH-funded researchers who discussed how to analyze and integrate RDoC data.
- Facts and Myths about RDoC (10-13-2015): RDoC staff and grantees answer frequently asked questions about the initiative.
- RDOC Negative Valence Webinar (5-11-2015): NIMH RDoC Unit staff, grantees, and reviewers held a webinar on writing and reviewing grants in the Negative Valence Domain.
- RDoC Kickoff Webinar (11-24-2014): In the first installment of the RDoC Webinar Series, RDoC Unit Director Dr. Bruce Cuthbert discusses the guiding principles of RDoC, the role of the new RDoC unit, and frequent questions researchers have about RDoC.
- Introduction to RDoC (12-08-2014): Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., Director, NIMH Division of Translational Research and Treatment Development, discusses the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative
- Training Future Generations: RDoC Webinar (09-05-2014): Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., Director, NIMH Division of Translational Research and Treatment Development, discusses the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, with a particular emphasis on how it affects trainees and their research programs.