Mentoring Junior Investigators in Alcohol Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this Senior Scientist Research and Mentorship award is to generate opportunities for the PI to provide mentoring in cellular and molecular aspects of alcohol research to junior investigators in the early stages of their research career (Instructor or Assistant Professor). The PI has a over twenty years of NIAAA funded research experience in the study of the interactions of acute and chronic alcohol exposure on cellular signaling pathways, energy metabolism, apoptosis and the associated tissue damage. He has mentored multiple scientists who have since established themselves as independent investigators in this field. The PI is now initiating new mentoring relationships with young investigators to stimulate the application of novel bioinformatics and computational approaches to analyze the cellular and molecular basis of alcohol-induced tissue defects. Specifically, this research addresses questions of how effects of ethanol on the cell signaling network can integrate with its effects on cell proliferation and tissue repair, metabolism and tissue injury. These findings will also be applied to tissues obtained from human alcoholic patients in order to extend insights into cellular interactions related to chronic alcohol use to the clinical context. The junior scientists selected for mentoring come with different and complementary areas of expertise ranging from molecular and cell biology, to biotechnology and bioengineering, and computational biology. They will apply the skills obtained in their prior training to related problems in alcohol research and bring new insight into fundamental questions related to diseases associated with alcohol use and alcoholism. It is expected that these mentoring relationships will help bring a new generation of scientists with highly relevant skills to the field of alcohol research.