Mentoring Imaging Research in Early AD

 描述（由申请人提供）：这是一个一次性更新的K24中期职业生涯研究者奖在老龄化和阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者为导向的研究申请。候选人Reisa A.斯珀林，医学博士理学硕士，是一名神经科医生，作为一名富有成效的临床研究者和研究导师，有着良好的记录。候选人研究计划的总体目标是：1）阐明衰老和早期AD记忆力下降的神经基础; 2）开发敏感的成像标记物以跟踪早期AD的进展; 3）促进早期干预，在AD的临床前阶段进行潜在的疾病修饰治疗。该候选人目前领导着几个正在进行的NIH和基金会资助的多模态成像项目，涉及衰老，临床前和前驱AD，以及临床前AD的大型二级预防试验。候选人将继续利用她资助的研究作为年轻的以患者为导向的研究人员的指导平台，并促进认知老化和早期AD研究的多学科方法。候选人的学员有机会在功能，结构和分子成像技术，认知神经科学，神经心理学评估，生物统计学和临床试验设计方面进行培训，因为它们适用于老龄化和早期AD研究，借鉴了杰出合作者团队的专业知识。学员还将能够参加由哈佛Catalyst CTSC、T32和其他培训赠款提供的研究研讨会、统计课程和成像研讨会、职业发展和补助金撰写研讨会，以及通过Catalyst、哈佛医学院、哈佛公共卫生学院和马萨诸塞州理工学院进行的正式教学课程工作。为K24更新提出的一个新的组成部分是“指导指导”，以教导发展中的调查人员如何有效地指导他们自己的被指导者，因为他们过渡到独立。在过去的5年里，候选人成功地指导了20多名研究员和初级教员学员，其中包括多名女性和几名少数民族年轻研究人员，他们发表了60多篇手稿，并获得了多项荣誉和工作资金。K24更新研究项目提出研究性别（sex）对AD影像学生物标志物和认知能力下降风险的影响，这将为候选人的学员提供许多新的研究机会。为了通过K24机制进一步促进她自己的持续专业发展，候选人将获得基于性别的生物学和先进分析方法的培训，并将继续通过正式的指导和领导力培训提高她的指导技能。此次K24更新对于候选人继续发展至关重要 并促进她的临床研究职业发展，最重要的是，保护她的时间来指导下一代致力于早期AD患者导向研究的研究者。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for a one-time renewal of K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patient-oriented research. The candidate, Reisa A. Sperling, M.D. M.MSc., is a neurologist with a strong track record as a productive clinical investigator and research mentor. The overarching aims of the candidates' research program are to: 1) elucidate the neural underpinnings of memory decline in aging and early AD; 2) develop sensitive imaging markers to track the progression of early AD; and 3) facilitate earlier intervention with potential disease-modifying treatments in the preclinical stags of AD. The candidate currently leads several ongoing NIH and foundation-funded multimodality imaging projects in aging, preclinical, and prodromal AD, as well as a large secondary prevention trial in preclinical AD. The candidate will continue to use her funded research as a platform for the mentorship of young patient-oriented investigators, and to promote a multidisciplinary approach to the study of cognitive aging and early AD. The candidates' mentees have the opportunity to train in functional, structural, and molecular imaging techniques, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychological assessment, biostatistics, and clinical trial design as they apply to aging and early AD research, drawing on expertise from an outstanding group of collaborators. Trainees will also be able to participate in research seminars, statistical courses and imaging workshops, career development and grant- writing workshops provided by Harvard Catalyst CTSC, T32 and other training grants, as well as formal didactic course work through the Catalyst, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A new component proposed for the K24 renewal is "mentoring on mentoring" to teach developing investigators how to effectively mentor their own mentees as they transition to independence. The candidate has successfully mentored more than 20 fellow and junior faculty trainees over the past 5 years of the initial K24 award, including multiple women and several minority young researchers, who have published over 60 manuscripts and have garnered multiple honors and funding for their work. The K24 renewal research project proposes to investigate the influence of sex (gender) on AD imaging biomarkers and risk of cognitive decline, which will provide many new research opportunities for the candidate's mentees. To further her own continued professional development through the K24 mechanism, the candidate will acquire training in sex-based biology and advanced analytic methodology, and will continue to enhance her mentoring skills through formal mentoring and leadership training. This K24 renewal is critically important for the candidate to continue to grow and foster her clinical research career development and, most essentially, to protect her time to mentor the next generation of investigators committed to early AD patient-oriented research.