Midcareer Investigator Award in Alcohol-Related Human Disease Research

描述（由申请人提供）：酒精滥用是出生缺陷的唯一最常见和可预防的原因，也是美国慢性肝病和神经变性的主要原因。我们的研究已经将几种慢性酒精依赖介导的脑和肝功能异常与胰岛素和胰岛素样生长因子信号传导的损伤联系起来，特别是在细胞存活和能量代谢方面。然而，为了利用这些最新成果，有必要使用最先进的方法将分析扩展到人类疾病状态。该提案的主要目标是：1）使用分子和生物化学方法研究成人大脑中酒精介导的神经变性机制; 2）提供一个强有力的，高度支持的环境，以培训和指导初级研究人员，特别是医生-科学家，通过利用当前技术分析人体组织样本来研究人类疾病机制;和3）教育初级研究人员的重要性， 用于检验假设和验证人类研究结果的实验模型。重点将放在吸收妇女和少数民族受训人员。 苏珊娜·M De la Monte是病理学家和神经病理学家，在罗得岛医院接受培训和临床活动，并在布朗大学担任病理学和临床神经科学教授。De la Monte博士在人类疾病，生物医学和转化研究方面培训年轻研究人员方面有着悠久的历史。她的实验室目前由NIAAA的NIH资助，接待了几名学员，包括本科生，医学生，研究生，博士后研究员和初级医生科学家，其中大多数是女性或代表性不足的少数群体成员。这个职业中期研究者奖将为De la Monte博士提供更好的机会，以发挥领导力，并为有前途的年轻科学家提供高质量的指导和培训。本申请中包含的信息表明了在人类和转化研究方面的富有成效的职业生涯，并证明了De la Monte博士在指导科学家未来的同时继续从事此类工作的承诺。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol abuse is the single most common known and preventable cause of birth defects, and a major contributor to both chronic liver disease and neurodegeneration in the United States. Our research has linked several chronic alcohol exposure-mediated abnormalities in brain and liver function to impairments in insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling, particularly with regard to cell survival and energy metabolism. However, in order to capitalize on these recent gains, it will be necessary to extend the analyses to human disease states using state-of-the-art methodology. The major goals of this proposal are to: 1) investigate mechanisms of alcohol-mediated neurodegeneration in adult human brains using molecular and biochemical approaches; 2) provide a strong, highly supportive environment to train and mentor junior investigators, particularly physician-scientists, to investigate human disease mechanisms by utilizing current technology to analyze human tissue samples; and 3) educate junior investigators about the importance of experimental models for testing hypotheses and validating results from human studies. Emphasis will be placed on including women and minority trainees. Suzanne M. De la Monte is a Pathologist and Neuropathologist by training and clinical activities at the Rhode Island Hospital, and Professor of Pathology and Clinical Neuroscience at Brown University. Dr. De la Monte has a long track record of training young investigators in human disease, biomedical, and translational research. Her laboratory, which currently is supported by NIH funding from NIAAA, hosts several trainees including undergraduates, medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior physician-scientists, most of whom are women or members of under-represented minority groups. This Mid-career investigator award will provide better opportunity for Dr. De la Monte to exercise leadership and high quality mentorship and training of promising young scientists. The information included in this application demonstrates a productive career in human and translational research, and demonstrates Dr. De la Monte's commitment to continuing this type of work while mentoring scientists for the future.