STARNET: Research Experiences for Students & Teachers

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a continuation of our current project, which engages teachers and students in research focused on understanding the biology of drug abuse and addiction. We describe an educational program involving students and teachers in a multi-year research investigation into the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to smoking behavior. The investigation will consist of a case-controlled study of anonymous individuals, including genotyping of several candidate genes and using a questionnaire to collect information about subjects' environment and smoking behavior. High school students directed by their classroom teachers will carry out most of the study. Data from the study will be made available on-line, and instructional materials will be developed to guide students through the research study and related bioethical considerations. The research investigation will be carried out in three phases over a four-year period. In Phase 1, students will design a research protocol for carrying out SNP genotyping and association analysis on a group of anonymous human subjects. Students in several classrooms will participate in selecting candidate genes with SNPs that affect enzyme activity, testing the genotyping assay, and writing the human subjects questionnaire. Prior to submission for human subjects approval, the study design will be reviewed and revised by the project design team from the fields of medical genetics, neurobiology, epidemiology, and bioethics. All contact with the human subjects or tissue samples, including recruitment of subjects, taking samples, conducting questionnaires, and preparation of DNA samples, will be carried out by qualified laboratories at the UW. In Phase 2, students will contribute to genotyping the subjects, and the database containing subjects' genotypes and questionnaire data will be compiled and made available in subsequent years for association analysis. In Phase 3, students will use this information to develop and test hypotheses about environmental and genetic factors that contribute to smoking behavior. By the end of the funding period we will have created instructional materials related to the smoking study and related bioethical issues, assembled a database of subjects' genotyping and smoking behavior and environment data, and developed a low cost genotyping reagent kit that simulates genotyping results obtained in Phase 2. The reagent kit, together with project instructional materials and the study database, will facilitate project dissemination and will ensure the continuation of the project beyond the funding period.