Biomedical Alcohol Research Training Program

描述（申请人提供）：生物医学酒精研究培训计划将培养年轻的博士预科生和博士研究生，以及具有博士学位和/或博士学位的博士后，从事酒精消费和滥用的生物医学后果的研究。核心教员将主要负责指导受训者，包括来自LSUHSC医学院（12名）、杜兰大学公共卫生与热带医学院（1名）、杜兰国家灵长类动物研究中心（2名）、Alton Ochsner医学基金会（1名）和泽维尔大学药学院（1名）的17名科学家，这是一所历史上的非裔美国人大学。培训计划还依赖于17名支持教员，他们是临床医生、兽医、而科学家则提供独特的资源、专门的培训和共同指导。学员将在三个相互关联的主题下进行酒精研究项目：1)酒精/艾滋病毒疾病，2)酒精/宿主防御，3)酒精/神经内分泌和行为。该培训计划旨在培养学员的研究和技术技能，使他们能够通过对饮酒和滥用对以下方面的影响进行假设驱动的机制研究来提高知识：1)感染背景下的先天和特异性免疫系统；2)非人类灵长类动物猴免疫缺陷病毒疾病的传播、发病机制、进展和治疗；3)HIV蛋白对宿主防御和心脏功能的影响；4)肝脏（包括P450酶系统）和宿主防御系统细胞产生自由基的机制；5)SIV疾病和神经递质控制背景下的学习/记忆获得；6)创伤诱导的神经内分泌和心血管功能改变；7)大脑突触连接的胎儿发育。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Biomedical Alcohol Research Training Program will prepare young predoctoral PhD and combined MD/PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows with MD and/or PhD degrees for research careers on the biomedical consequences of alcohol consumption and abuse. Core Faculty will be primarily responsible for mentoring trainees and include 17 scientists from the School of Medicine at LSUHSC (12), School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine at Tulane University (1), Tulane National Primate Research Center (2), Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation (1), and the College of Pharmacy at Xavier University (1), a historically African American university, The Training Program also relies on 17 Support Faculty that are clinicians, veterinarians, and scientists to provide unique resources, specialized training and co-mentoring. Trainees will pursue alcohol research projects under three interrelated themes 1) Alcohol/HIV Disease, 2) Alcohol/Host Defense, 3) Alcohol/Neuroendocrine and Behavior. The Training Program is designed to develop in trainees research and technical skills that will allow them to advance knowledge by conducting hypotheses-driven mechanistic research on the effect of alcohol consumption and abuse on 1) the innate and specific immune system in the context of infection, 2) the transmission, pathogenesis, progression and treatment of simian Immunodeficiency virus disease in non-human primates, 3) HIV protein effects on host defense and heart function, 4) mechanisms of free radical production by liver including the P450 enzyme system and by cells of the host defense system, 5) learning/memory acquisition in the context of SIV disease and neurotransmitter control, 6) trauma induced alterations in neuroendocrine and cardiovascular function and 7) fetal development of brain synaptic connections. Trainee development will be enriched through didactic sessions that are designed to develop their knowledge base in the alcohol research field as well as their written and oral communication skills. By the third year of this funding cycle, 4 predoctoral students (PhD, MD/PhD) and 5 postdoctoral fellows (MD and/or PhD) will be in the Program. For postdoctoral fellows stringent emphasis will be placed on candidates who are committed to a minimum of two full time research training years, with 3 years preferred. Qualified minority and women candidates will be actively recruited, with special emphasis placed on recruitment of predoctoral minority students from Xavier University. The goal of the program is to provide mentorship and focused training so that young MD and PhD scientists can become familiar with the biomedical problems related to alcohol consumption and acquire the tools to do high quality, competitive research.