Early life trauma and aging using a long-lived animal model

项目摘要/摘要 培训：在过去的八年里，我的研究主要集中在大象内分泌学、健康和 衰老。这项研究表明，大象和人类之间有许多相似之处(例如，疾病， 生活史、社会性、情感复杂性)，并利用通过研究大象收集的信息 可能会改善人类健康和衰老。拟议的K01职业发展培训计划建立在此基础上 经验，但确定了需要额外培训的三个领域：(1)发展心理生物学方面的专业知识和 行为，(2)提高老龄化科学和方法的技能，(3)建立设计和实施的技能 随机实验。因此，我们建议加强专题指导，专注于课程作业，以及 通过拟议的研究进行情景学习。此K01将提供受保护的时间以接收所需的 加强我在这三个领域的专业知识的培训，将推动我成为一名独立的研究人员 专注于健康衰老的科学家。研究：经历过不良童年经历的人 (ACE)增加了在以后的生活中患上身体和心理疾病的风险。他们在1.6到2.4之间 成年后患肥胖症、癌症、心脏病、中风和糖尿病的可能性更高，以及预期寿命 最多减少20年。了解血管紧张素转换酶是如何在成年后导致疾病的，这对发育很重要 中断疾病进展的干预措施。拟议的K01试图通过 以下目标：证明使用大象作为人类衰老模型的价值，并阐明 早年创伤如何影响一个人的生物和社会轨迹。像人类一样，小牛是高度 他们依赖母亲，并与母亲建立了感情纽带，在目睹母亲被杀后可能会患上创伤后应激障碍。这个 为了象牙而偷猎随机大象提供了一个自然的实验来比较高度创伤的大象 孤儿大象和非孤儿大象的平衡负荷、生物学年龄、认知和 疾病易感性。这将是我们所知道的第一项利用大象来理解 早期生命创伤的影响，同时也实施了一项随机实验。拟议的K01将不会 只是证明了大象进一步了解人类衰老的价值，但它将阐明早期生命是如何 创伤会影响一个人的生理和社会轨迹。总结：这项研究的结果将为 一项R01拨款申请，以扩大使用大象进行早期生活创伤和衰老的研究。这款K01将 发展我在心理生物学、衰老和随机实验方面的新专长。在这个奖项结束时，我将 成为在老龄化领域进行创新研究的领先独立科学家。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Training: My research over the past eight years has focused primarily on elephant endocrinology, health, and aging. The work has shown that there are many similarities between elephants and humans (e.g., morbidities, life history, socialness, emotional complexity), and that leveraging information gathered by studying elephants may improve human health and aging. The proposed K01 career development training plan builds on that experience but identifies three areas that require additional training: (1) develop expertise in psychobiology and behavior, (2) enhance skills in aging science and methods, and (3) build skills in designing and implementing randomized experiments. Accordingly, we propose intensive topical mentorship, focused coursework, and contextual learning through the proposed research. This K01 will provide protected time to receive the needed training to enhance my expertise in these three areas and will propel me to becoming an independent research scientist focusing on healthy aging. Research: People who have endured adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have increased risk of developing physical and psychological diseases later in life. They are 1.6 to 2.4 times more likely to develop obesity, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes as adults, and life expectancy is reduced by up to 20 years. Understanding how ACEs lead to disease in adulthood is important for developing interventions to interrupt disease progression. The proposed K01 attempts to address this need through the following objectives: to demonstrate the value of using the elephant as a model for human aging, and elucidating how early-life trauma influences an individual’s biological and social trajectory. Like humans, calves are highly reliant and bonded to their mother, and can suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing her killing. The poaching of random elephants for their tusks has provided a natural experiment to compare highly traumatized orphaned elephants with non-orphaned elephants in regard to their allostatic load, biological age, cognition, and disease susceptibility. This will be the first study that we are aware of that uses the elephant to understand the implications of early-life trauma, while also implementing a randomized experiment. The proposed K01 will not only demonstrate the value of the elephant to further understand human aging, but it will elucidate how early-life trauma influences an individual’s biological and social trajectory. Summary: Findings from this study will inform an R01 grant application to expand the study of early-life trauma and aging using the elephant. This K01 will develop my new expertise in psychobiology, aging, and randomized experiments. At the end of this award, I will be a leading independent scientist conducing innovative research in the field of aging.