Mentoring Imaging Research in Early AD

 描述(由申请人提供)：这是一份一次性续展K24职业中期研究员奖的申请，该奖项针对老龄化和阿尔茨海默病(AD)患者的研究。候选人Reisa A.Sperling，医学博士，医学硕士，是一名神经学家，作为一名富有成效的临床研究员和研究导师，有着良好的记录。候选人研究计划的主要目标是：1)阐明衰老和早期AD记忆下降的神经基础；2)开发跟踪早期AD进展的敏感成像标记物；以及3)促进对AD临床前阶段潜在疾病修改治疗的早期干预。这位候选人目前领导着几个正在进行的NIH和基金会资助的老年性、临床前和前驱AD多模式成像项目，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指导年轻的以患者为导向的研究人员的平台，并促进以多学科方法研究认知老化和早期阿尔茨海默病。候选人的受训者有机会接受功能、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的培训，因为他们应用于衰老和早期AD研究，利用一群杰出的合作者的专业知识。学员还将能够参加由哈佛催化剂CTSC、T32和其他培训补助金提供的研究研讨会、统计课程和成像工作坊、职业发展和赠款撰写讲习班，以及通过催化剂、哈佛医学院、哈佛公共卫生学院和麻省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”，以教发展中的调查人员如何在他们过渡到独立的过程中有效地指导他们自己的被指导者。在过去的5年里，这位候选人成功地指导了20多名同事和初级教员实习生，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，并因其工作获得了多项荣誉和资助。K24更新研究项目提出调查性别(性别)对AD成像生物标记物和认知功能衰退风险的影响，这将为候选人的被辅导者提供许多新的研究机会。为了通过K24机制促进自己的持续专业发展，应聘者将获得以性别为基础的生物学和先进分析方法的培训，并将通过正式的指导和领导力培训继续提高指导技能。此次K24续订对候选人继续发展至关重要 并促进她的临床研究事业发展，最重要的是，保护她的时间来指导致力于早期AD患者研究的下一代研究人员。

 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.