From the undergraduate classroom to high-level postdoctoral fellowships, Rutgers University is rapidly becoming the premier training ground for the next generation of brain health experts. Through the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI), the university has established a “layered training ecosystem” that blends federal NIH funding with hands-on lab experience to tackle the world’s most complex neurological challenges.
By leveraging competitive T32 and R25 training grants, Rutgers is providing students with the technical coding skills, molecular genetics expertise, and interdisciplinary networks required to lead in the fields of addiction science and behavioral neuroscience.
For Ishita Sharma, a junior at Rutgers–New Brunswick, the path to becoming a psychiatrist began with a $5,000 fellowship through the TRUE RARC Scholar Program. This NIH-funded initiative, supplemented by the BHI, introduces undergraduates to the intersection of genetic factors and social determinants in addiction.
Working in the Sarah Brislin lab, Sharma uses advanced coding and statistical analysis to visualize descriptive data. “The structured curriculum allowed someone with no prior coding experience to confidently perform inferential analyses,” Sharma noted, emphasizing how the program’s approachable mentorship has solidified her professional goals.
At the PhD level, the Rutgers Training in Addiction Research Program (TARP)—led by Professor Chris Pierce—serves as a launchpad for independent scientists. Shayna O’Connor, a candidate in the Morgan James lab, utilizes a prestigious T32 grant to study how the brain’s orexin system regulates motivation and how cocaine disrupts those pathways.
“The T32 grant has facilitated my growth as an independent researcher by providing the support necessary to carry out my dissertation work,” O’Connor said.
The BHI’s support extends to the highest levels of academic inquiry, where postdoctoral associates are tackling “high-reward” questions in addiction biology:
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Akhil Sharma: A postdoctoral associate in the Chris Pierce lab, Sharma integrates human genome-wide association studies with gene editing in rat models. His work focuses on how stress and hormones influence cocaine use, aiming to discover new therapeutic targets for PTSD and addiction.
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Susana Delgado Ocana: Working in the Santiago Cuesta lab, Ocana investigates the “gut-brain axis.” Supported by the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, she uses microbiome manipulation to explore how gut bacteria influence substance use disorders.
The BHI doesn’t just provide checks; it provides a community. Through seminars, symposia, and interdisciplinary workshops, Rutgers ensures that its trainees are not working in silos. This integrated approach is designed to accelerate the commercialization of breakthroughs and the development of new treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.
As these four researchers illustrate, the Rutgers Brain Health Institute is not just conducting research—it is building the scientific infrastructure that will define the future of medicine in New Jersey and beyond.
