SPARED Center

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SUMMARY: ADMINISTRATIVE CORE The Silvio O. Conte Center for Stress Peptide Advanced Research, Education, & Dissemination (SPARED) at McLean Hospital will create an innovative, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive research program combining preclinical and clinical components to elucidate mechanisms by which unregulated stress triggers psychiatric illness. The 5 thematically-linked projects will focus on interactions between CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor) and PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide), peptides implicated in stress responsiveness and development of debilitating illnesses including PTSD. To support this research mission, the Administrative Core will maintain the organizational structure necessary for enabling successful communication, integration, and cooperation among SPARED Center projects, providing a mechanism for frequent updating, and ensuring effective allocation and utilization of resources for maximizing synergy and scientific advancement. The Core will also support the education and training activities needed to develop future researchers at McLean, a national leader as the premier psychiatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Core will be Co-Directed by William Carlezon, Ph.D. and Kerry Ressler, M.D., Ph.D. and has 4 Specific Aims. For Aim 1, the Core will coordinate, integrate, and advance Center research, taking responsibility for the overall coordination of 5 research groups comprising the SPARED Center, and direct the Education, Training, Outreach, and Statistics components. Core Leaders will work directly with the directors of the Education, Training, and Outreach initiative and Statistics/Data Management component. For Aim 2, the Core will create and maintain a SPARED Center website devoted to the Center and establish a social media presence so that our work will have a global reach. The Core will use these resources to disseminate our work to target audiences of scientists and health care practitioners, students (K-12, college, medical school, and graduate students), educators, NIMH “Outreach Partners”, and the general lay-public. For Aim 3, the Core will provide multiple career-building opportunities for early-career scientists conducting SPARED Center-related research, including Seed Grants and Travel Awards. In addition, we will organize a SPARED Center Symposium for faculty and international stress leaders to present their work. We will also encourage SPARED Center faculty to submit symposia proposals to relevant scientific meetings (e.g., SfN, ACNP, SOBP) and provide an educational platform that supports development and teaching new courses. For Aim 4, the Core will share our collective enthusiasm and expertise with the larger community through outreach. Our outreach mission will focus on initiatives aimed at the public and students (K-12 and college), by continuing our ongoing collaboration with the Boston Museum of Science and developing a new outreach pipeline with regional liberal arts colleges by sending SPARED Center faculty to give research talks, meet with students, and recruit future investigators. Thus the Core will support the research mission while enhancing career development and maximizing the impact of the work for experts and lay-persons.