Innovative Multidisciplinary Education: The Statistical Genetics of Addiction

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的研究教育计划有三个目标：1)为研究生和博士后研究员提供统计遗传学方法方面的创新教育；2)让他们参与和指导新的统计方法和计算模型的开发和应用，这些新的统计方法和计算模型与分析从新兴的高通量技术产生的大量且不断增加的遗传数据相关；以及3)将这些方法应用于成瘾遗传学的关键问题。我们专注于两种主要的和相互关联的成瘾障碍，我们的项目负责人和导师在这方面拥有重要的专业知识：尼古丁和阿片依赖。我们提供了丰富的数据基础设施，正在进行的和完成的研究与选定的成瘾行为的遗传学有关。我们建议开发基于课程的方法，为研究生和博士后研究员提供新的知识和机会，与教师导师合作开展研究项目，重点是尼古丁和处方阿片成瘾的统计遗传学和计算建模方法。我们将在第一年选拔两名博士后和一名博士后。随后的每一年，我们都将增加参与者的人数，在5年结束时，我们将任命5名博士后学生和5名博士后研究员，每个人的任期最长为5年。已从合作机构的教职员工中确定了导师，参与者将在这些机构中获得主要任命，其中包括德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心、德克萨斯大学健康科学中心和公共卫生学院、贝勒医学院和莱斯大学。来自国家酒精滥用和酒精中毒研究所、洛克菲勒大学和德克萨斯A&M的其他导师是成瘾和统计遗传学方面的领导者，也是计划咨询委员会的成员。这些导师已同意加入该计划，以表彰他们在成瘾研究、统计遗传学和计算模型、行为科学和遗传流行病学方面的专业知识和经验。因此，这个研究性教育项目的意义是多方面的。除了教授学生成为专注于成瘾研究的统计遗传领导者外，预计将测试和验证强有力的新统计方法，并最终确定新的遗传目标。查明新的遗传风险因素及其与环境的相互作用可有助于了解尼古丁和阿片成瘾的遗传病因学，有助于确定风险最高的个人，并根据他们的个人暴露模式和遗传风险概况开发有针对性的治疗方法。总之，不断变化的烟草使用模式和越来越多的非法使用处方止痛药，特别是儿童，使教育这些新科学家并启动他们的研究变得至关重要。 公共卫生相关性：这项面向博士后学生和博士后研究员的研究教育计划将提供统计遗传学方法的指导培训，这些方法适用于以尼古丁和阿片类药物依赖为重点的成瘾障碍。受训者和他们的教师导师将开发和应用新的统计方法和计算模型，以分析由新兴的高通量技术产生的海量和不断增加的基因数据；他们将把这些方法应用于成瘾遗传学的关键问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research education program, has three objectives: 1) to provide innovative education in statistical genetics methods for addictive behaviors to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; 2) to involve and mentor them in the development and application of new statistical methods and computational models relevant to analyze the vast and ever increasing genetic data being generated from emerging high throughput technologies; and 3) to apply such methods to critical questions in the genetics of addiction. We have focused on two overarching and inter-related addictive disorders with which our Program leaders and mentors have significant expertise: nicotine and opiate dependence. We offer a rich data infrastructure of ongoing and completed studies pertinent to the genetics of select addictive behaviors. We propose to develop curriculum-based methods that provide new knowledge and opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to work with faculty mentors on research projects focusing on statistical genetics and computational modeling approaches to nicotine and prescription opioid addiction. We will select two pre-doctoral students and one postdoctoral fellow in the first year. Each subsequent year, we will increase the number of participants and at the end of 5 years we will have appointed 5 predoctoral students and 5 postdoctoral fellows each for a maximum of five years. Mentors have been identified from the faculty of collaborating institutions where participants will have their primary appointments including The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, UT Health Science Center and School of Public Health, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rice University. Additional mentors who are leaders in addiction and statistical genetics also serve on the Program Advisory Committee from the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockefeller University, and Texas A&M. These mentors have agreed to join the Program for their expertise and experience in addiction research, statistical genetics and computational models, behavioral science, and genetic epidemiology. The significance of this research education program then is multi-fold. In addition to teaching students to become statistical genetic leaders with a focus in addiction research, it is anticipated that robust new statistical methodologies will be tested and validated and finally that novel genetic targets will be identified. The identification of novel genetic risk factors and their interaction with the environment can contribute to understanding the genetic etiology of nicotine and opiate addiction and help to identify individuals at highest risk as well as to develop targeted therapies on the basis of their personal exposure patterns and their genetic risk profiles. In summary, changing patterns of tobacco use and growing illicit use of prescription pain killers, particularly by children, make the significance of educating these new scientists and launching them in research paramount. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research education program for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows will provide mentored training in statistical genetics methods applied to addictive disorders focused on nicotine and opiate dependence. The trainees and their faculty mentors will develop and apply new statistical methods and computational models relevant to analyze the vast and ever increasing genetic data being generated from emerging high throughput technologies; and they will apply such methods to critical questions in the genetics of addiction.