NEUROSCIENCE AND METABOLIC DISORDERS PROJECT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Public health issues that result from nervous and/or metabolic system dysregulation are highly significant for the residents of El Paso and its surrounding communities. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a premier minority-serving institution on the U.S./Mexico border, has a robust basic research program made possible by the RCMI support of our Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC). Within the BBRC the Neuroscience and Metabolic Disorders Project (NMDP) pursues collaborative research that investigates neurological and metabolic mechanisms that contribute to complex diseases that are highly expressed in this region. Our vision is that ongoin and new collaborations, and pilot research grants under our proposed new themes for research (neurological and metabolic dysregulation, neurotoxicology, neurodegeneration and recovery, and cellular mechanisms and cancer), will promote multidisciplinary research and permit future translational studies into therapeutics and interventions for border-relevant health conditions such as depression, addiction, diabetes and obesity, and cancer. Scientists in the NMDP enhance their productivity through the use of outstanding Core facilities which contain specilized equipment and technical support. Opportunities for investigators and programs to become more established and move in directions that likely would not otherwise be possible will result from the proposed activities. New faculty hires will build on the momentum gained through independent projects, pilot research grants and the use of the Core facilities, promoting synergy and expansion within the NMDP and between the NMDP and the other BBRC Projects (Toxicology and Infectious Diseases and Immunology). Positive outcomes of this new research strategy will be: 1) increased success in securing extramural funding; 2) a concurrent decrease in our dependence on RCMI funds; 3) the development and pursuit of multi-investigator and/or program project-type grant applications; and 4) a productive environment for training young scientists from underrepresented groups. Through this research plan, we will achieve our mission to contribute substantially to the health and education of people in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez community as well as the missions of the NIH and NCRR.