Vanderbilt Environmental Health Science Scholars Program

描述(由申请人提供) 环境暴露在许多常见复杂疾病的发病机制中起着关键作用。拟议的Vanderbilt环境健康科学学者(VEHSS)项目的目的是培养以患者为导向的研究人员，致力于环境健康研究，并具备在多学科研究团队中发挥作用并领导他们的能力，以增强对环境疾病的了解，改善健康。VEHSS将侧重于两个具体的科学主题：1)氧化应激在环境伤害/暴露中的作用；2)环境神经毒性的机制。范德比尔特的研究人员已经开发并验证了氧化应激的独特生物标记物，这一过程与许多常见疾病的发病机制有关。同样，Vanderbilt的研究人员已经阐明了金属运输和氧化应激的机制，以更好地了解环境暴露的不利发育和神经退化影响。在面向患者的环境健康科学研究的每个重点领域，学者们将接受1)多学科方法的培训，利用人类遗传学的专业知识来确定基因与环境的相互作用，2)蛋白质组学、脂类组学和最新的质谱学技术，以发现环境暴露和疾病状态的生物标记物，3)尖端成像技术，以分析组织对金属离子和毒素的摄取以及局部代谢结果，以及4)信息学和生物统计学，以分析大型和复杂的数据。目前的提案提供了一个独特的机会，可以将Vanderbilt在基础环境健康科学研究和以患者为导向的研究方面的优势结合起来，创建一个可以对美国环境健康产生重大影响的培训计划。因此，VEHSS计划的目标是：1)将Vanderbilt在毒理学和环境健康科学方面久负盛名的强大基础科学计划与其在以患者为导向的研究方面取得的同样重大的成就相结合，以增加环境健康科学研究的影响，以改善人类健康。2)在研究方法上发展独特的教学核心，以进行假设驱动的环境健康研究，并利用现有的职业发展资源，培养一支以病人为导向的多学科环境健康科学研究的领导干部队伍。3)利用范德比尔特-梅哈里联盟的共享资源，增加在环境健康科学研究中担任学者、导师和领导者的人数不足的少数群体。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) Environmental exposures play a critical role in the pathogenesis of many common complex diseases. The purpose of the proposed Vanderbilt Environmental Health Science Scholars (VEHSS) program is to develop patient-oriented researchers committed to a career in environmental health research and equipped to function within and lead multidisciplinary teams of researchers to enhance understanding of environmental disease and to improve health. The VEHSS will focus on two specific scientific themes: 1) the role of oxidative stress in environmental injury/exposure and 2) mechanisms of environmental neurotoxicity. Vanderbilt investigators have developed and validated unique biomarkers of oxidative stress, a process implicated in the pathogenesis of many common diseases. Likewise, Vanderbilt investigators have elucidated mechanisms of metal transport and oxidative stress to better understand adverse developmental and neurodegenerative effects of environmental exposures. In each focus area of patient-oriented environmental health sciences research, Scholars will be trained in 1) a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in human genetics to identify gene-environment interactions, 2) proteomics, lipidomics, and state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques to discover biomarkers of environmental exposure and disease states, 3) cutting-edge imaging techniques to analyze tissue uptake of metal ions and toxins and local metabolic consequences, and 4) informatics and biostatistics to analyze large and complex data. The current proposal provides a unique opportunity to merge Vanderbilt's strengths in basic environmental health sciences research and patient oriented research to create a training program that can have a major impact on environmental health in the United States. Thus the goals of the VEHSS program are to: 1) Integrate Vanderbilt's well-established, strong basic science programs in toxicology and environmental health sciences with its equally significant accomplishments in patient-oriented research to increase the impact of environmental health sciences research to improve human health. 2) Develop a unique didactic core in research methodology for conducting hypothesis-driven research in environmental health and capitalize on existing career development resources to develop a cadre of leaders in multidisciplinary patient-oriented research in environmental health sciences. 3) Leverage the shared resources of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Alliance to increase the number of underrepresented minorities serving as Scholars and Mentors and leaders in environmental health sciences research.