Dr. William Coleman Award

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A Coleman award application review committee was convened with members from NIMHD Extramural, DIR, and other ICs. Five applicants were selected for FY19 funding. A description of the recipients and their research projects follows. Yvonne Baumer, Dr. rer. nat (PhD), Staff Scientist, National Heart. Lung, and Blood Institute. Project Title:Elucidating the Impact of Chronic Stress From Social Environment on Endothelial Cell Function and Vascular Biology: A Translational Study to Address Cardiovascular Health Disparities. Researchers aim to determine whether vascular inflammation is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis that varies among residents of high- and low-SES neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.; whether individuals from low-SES neighborhoods have altered EC lipid metabolism and EC cholesterol crystal formation; and whether patients with stress-related CVD have impaired signaling pathways controlling lysosomal function and autophagy. Researchers also hope to identify novel signaling pathways important to stress-induced atherogenesis and to broaden understanding of how CVD develops and progresses. Jung Shin Byun, PhD, Staff Scientist, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Project Title: Single-Cell RNA-Seq to Describe Differences in Immune Cell Profiles Between African American and European American Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Using RNA sequencing in African American and European Americans, the researchers aim to identify prevalent differential gene expression in different cell lineages by studying circulating peripheral blood cells and Triplle Negative Breast Cancer infiltrates at the single-cell level. Mehdi Farokhnia, MD and Monica Faulkner, PhD, Post-doctoral Fellows, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse. Project Title: Integration of Imaging, Genetics, and Biobehavioral Data to Investigate the Neurobiological Substrates of Racial Disparity Between Black and White Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder. This project will investigate whether distinct neural circuits and biobehavioral characteristics underlie differences in AUDs development and progression between Black and White individuals, and whether genetic ancestry contributes to neurobiological characterization of racial disparity in relation to AUD. Symielle A. Gaston, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences. Project Title: Identification and Characterization of Environmental Factors Contributing to Disparities in Sleep Health and Cardiometabolic Dysfunction. Members of racial/ethnic minority and low SES groups are more likely than Whites to live in suboptimal sleep environments. Poor sleep can negatively affect cardiometabolic health. Investigators will assess multiple environmental exposures and their relationships with sleep and cardiometabolic health to see if they explain racial/ethnic and SES disparities in poor sleep and cardiometabolic health in the U.S. Deyana Lewis, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, National Institute on Aging. IRTA Post-doctoral Fellow, National Human Genome Research Institute. Project Title: Whole Exome Sequencing of High Risk African American Prostate Cancer Families. African American (AA) men have the higher rates of prostate cancer (PCa) and are more than twice as likely as men with European ancestry (EA) to die of the disease. Whole exome sequencing (WES) of hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) families can help identify rare susceptibility variants that more often affect AAs. The researchers will sequence exomes to identify genetic variations that contribute to the aggressiveness of PCa in AA men and EAs.