Postdoctoral Program in Functional Neurogenomics

描述（由申请人提供）：神经科学家和医生继续努力理解精神疾病背后的病理生理机制，甚至更多的是将这些信息转化为疾病所需的个性化治疗。尽管过去五十年的研究已经揭示了基因、基因变异、分子网络、细胞相互作用和支持大脑疾病的大脑通路，但我们对这些信息的翻译仍然有限。新一代的神经科学家需要理解并能够利用以下方面：1)体内遗传和表观遗传变异的功能影响；2)基因在突触生理学中产生改变的发育和调节背景；3)导致行为改变的回路水平病理；4)将研究成果转化为新疗法的最佳实践。我们建议范德比尔特大学功能神经基因组学博士后培训计划作为确保学科合并的工具，学员可以获得遗传模型系统提供的经验，获得将人类遗传发现转化为构建有效动物模型的专业知识，学习用先进的方法在体内操纵分子，细胞和电路。并获得捕捉此类操作的生理和行为后果的经验。我们的项目建立在过去二十年来范德比尔特大学在神经科学师资、教育项目、技术专长和核心设施方面的重大投资基础上。我们的项目主任是Randy D. Blakely博士，他是NIMH MERIT奖获得者，也是Vanderbilt Silvio O. Conte神经科学研究中心的主任。Blakely博士的研究范围从秀丽隐杆线虫的正向和反向遗传研究，到转基因小鼠中精神疾病相关基因变异的建模，再到自闭症和多动症背后的功能性人类遗传变异的鉴定。两位资深的神经科学家长期致力于推动年轻科学家的职业发展，他们负责监督该项目。该项目的联合主任是Roger D. Cone博士，范德比尔特大学分子生理学和生物物理系主任，也是美国国家科学院的当选成员。他的研究结合了现代遗传学、分子生物学、生物化学和行为学的工具，重点研究食欲和饮食失调的中枢神经系统控制。与布莱克利博士类似，科恩博士的研究中使用的范例涵盖了强大的遗传模型系统，包括转基因斑马鱼和老鼠，以及探究饮食失调背后的功能性基因变异的研究。像Blakely博士一样，Cone博士也培养了数十名博士生和博士后，为该项目带来了丰富的指导经验。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neuroscientists and physicians continue to struggle to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie mental illness, and even more so to translate this information into the personalized therapies needed for diseases. Although research over the past five decades has uncovered genes, gene variants, molecular networks, cellular interactions and brain pathways supporting brain disorders, our translation of this information remains limited. A new generation of neuroscientists is needed that understand, and can exploit, 1) the functional impact of genetic and epigenetic variation in vivo, 2) the developmental and regulatory context within which genes produce alterations in synaptic physiology, 3) the circuit-level pathologies that lead to changes in behavior and 4) the best practices in translating research findings into novel therapies. We propose The Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Training Program in Functional Neurogenomics as a vehicle to insure a merger of disciplines, where trainees gain experience in the opportunities afforded by genetic model systems, gain expertise in the translation of human genetic findings into construct-valid animal models, learn to manipulate molecules, cells and circuits with advanced approaches in vivo, and gain experience in capturing the physiological and behavioral consequences of such manipulations. We build our program on a significant investment over the past two decades by Vanderbilt in neuroscience faculty, educational programs, technological expertise and core facilities. Our Program Director is Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., an NIMH MERIT awardee and Director of the Vanderbilt Silvio O. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research. Dr. Blakely's research ranges from forward and reverse genetic studies in C. elegans to the modeling of mental illness-associated gene variation in transgenic mice, to the identification of functional human genetic variation underlying autism and ADHD. Two established neuroscientists with a long-standing interest in advancing the careers of junior scientists oversee the Program. The Program Co-Director is Roger D. Cone, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics at Vanderbilt, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Cone's research incorporates the tools of modern genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and behavior, with a focus on CNS control of appetite and eating disorders. Similar to Dr. Blakely, the paradigms used in Dr. Cone's research ranges across powerful genetic model systems, including transgenic zebrafish and mice, to research probing for functional gene variation underlying eating disorders. Like Dr. Blakely, Dr. Cone has trained dozens of predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, bringing significant mentorship experience to the Program.