Stress Biology and Psychosocial stressors as mechanisms for Racial Health Disparities in Neural and Clinical Impairments of Multiple Sclerosis

项目摘要/摘要 目前的F99/K00提案概述了一项综合的博士前和博士后培训计划，该计划将导致 申请人准备独立开展前沿的跨学科生物心理社会研究。 培训目标将增强她的能力，巩固她的新兴技能，同时也关注专业 发展和职业发展。提出的项目跨越了与心理社会压力相关的结果 影响神经健康，特别是因为它与多发性硬化症有关。为了实现这一目标，申请人建议进行培训 在(TG1)压力生物学中，将建立在她之前的生物行为专业知识的基础上，扩展到新的生物样本 研究人群，并用主观的压力和歧视措施来补充压力生物学； (TG2)神经科学，特别是结构性(MRI)措施，补充了她之前的EEG工作；(TG3) 多发性硬化症作为一种衰弱的神经系统疾病，会导致脑萎缩，但对谁来说 认知和生理临床结果继续回避这一领域；以及(TG4)种族健康差异 这有助于阐明临床多发性硬化症预后的个体差异的基础 风化和交叉性等理论的应用。该提案跨越两个主要站点，其中 建立了合作的历史，使申请者能够完成创新的工作，并与 经验丰富的导师团队，通过“学习社区”的形式和应用 帮助申请者实现项目里程碑的敏捷方法。申请者的长期目标是 成为一名跨学科的学者，在应激生物学和神经科学以及关键种族方面都表现出色 健康差距的理论和现象学。申请者不仅寻求增加 科学，但拟议的研究也将有助于展示非常真实、有形和 种族主义和歧视似乎难以克服的影响。为了实现这些目标，该项目提出了三项建议 AIMS与AIMS F99/K00指南保持一致。目标1b描述了到目前为止论文的进展情况， 包括获得对试验数据的批准，以确定研究地点的可行性，作为申请者 研究实习，完成所有研究指标的培训，包括磁共振成像、临床多发性硬化症结果、头发 皮质醇检测和自我报告评分，并收集飞行员数据进行功率分析计算。 目标1b概述了在F99期间要完成的工作，重点是概念模型(和相应的 假设)，其中脑萎缩和临床多发性硬化症结果之间的主要联系被询问 在健康差异的来源方面，然后提出了特定的调节剂，如头发皮质醇和 歧视。目标2描述博士后可能的研究方向，下一步的研究步骤和职业 将以一种提高跨学科成功可能性的方式为申请者的职业生涯奠定基础的举措 学者们正在推动对压力如何在皮肤下影响健康的理解。

Project Summary/ Abstract The current F99/K00 proposal outlines an integrated pre- and post-doctoral training plan that will result in the applicant being prepared to independently conduct cutting edge interdisciplinary biopsychosocial research. Training goals will augment her solidify her strengths with emerging skills while also attending to professional development and career advancement. The project proposed spans psychosocial stress related outcomes that impact neurological health, specifically as it pertains to MS. To reach this goal, the applicant proposes training in (TG1) Stress Biology which will build on her prior biobehavioral expertise to extend to novel biospecimens and study populations and to complement stress biology with subjective measures of stress and discrimination; (TG2) Neuroscience, especially structural (MRI) measures which complements her prior EEG work; (TG3) Multiple Sclerosis as a debilitating neurological disease with causes brain atrophy but for whom severity of cognitive and physiological clinical outcomes continue to elude the field; and (TG4) Racial Health Disparities which can help shed light on underpinnings for individual differences in clinical MS outcomes through application of theories like Weathering and Intersectionality. The proposal spans two primary sites with an established history of working together which allows the applicant to accomplish innovative work and with an experienced mentor team who work well together through a “community of learning” format and application of Agile Methodology to help the applicant achieve project milestones. The applicant’s long-term goal is to become a transdisciplinary scholar who excels at both stress biology and neuroscience as well as critical race theories and the phenomenology of health disparities. Not only does the applicant seek to increase diversity in the sciences, but the research proposed also will be instrumental for demonstrating the very real, tangible and seemingly intractable impact of racism and discrimination. To achieve these goals, the project proposes three aims as aligned with the aims F99/K00 guidelines. Aim 1b describes the dissertation progress thus far, which includes obtaining approvals for pilot data to establish feasibility at the study site as part of the applicant’s Research Internship, completing training in all study measures including MRI, clinical MS outcomes, hair cortisol assays and scoring self-reported measures, and collecting pilot data for power analysis calculations. Aim 1b outlines work to be completed during the F99, focusing on a conceptual model (and corresponding hypotheses) in which the primary association between brain atrophy and clinical MS outcomes is interrogated in terms of sources of health disparities and then specific moderators are proposed such as hair cortisol and discrimination. Aim 2 describes the postdoctoral research direction as possible next research steps and career moves that will set up the applicant’s career in a way that enhances likelihood of success as a transdisciplinary scholar advancing understanding of how stress gets under the skin to impact health.