An interdisciplinary study of eating behavior in twins

描述（由申请人提供）： 这个K23奖将使Schur博士成为一名独立的研究人员，精通饮食行为和体重调节的跨学科研究的设计和进行。培训和研究活动的重点是复杂的环境和遗传对饮食习惯和食欲调节的影响。该申请提出了一项为期5年的强化指导研究和正式培训活动计划，以提高Schur博士在以下方面的技能和经验：1）临床研究方法和生物统计学，2）饮食行为研究，3）食欲调节激素的生理学和4）双胞胎研究方法。从长远来看，Schur博士将应用这些技能来研究肥胖的发展和预防。 这项职业发展奖的研究部分针对的是主要被描述为心理现象的异常饮食行为的一个方面。限制饮食者是慢性节食者，其中一些人也容易暴饮暴食。在实验条件下，限制进食者在高热量预负荷（如奶昔）后会吃得过多，而不受限制的进食者则不会。这被认为是纯粹的心理影响，但生理和遗传因素尚未调查。使用基于人口的华盛顿大学双胞胎登记处，具体目标是：1）建立限制饮食的遗传与环境影响，2）调查食欲调节激素在限制饮食者异常饮食行为中的作用，3）比较限制和无限制饮食者之间对高热量预负荷的大脑激活。具体目标1将采用经典双胞胎研究，具体目标2和3将采用共双胞胎对照设计。该项目将为Schur博士未来的研究建立一个途径，并希望使寻求了解暴饮暴食行为的临床医生和研究人员受益。 华盛顿大学是舒尔博士获得实现目标所需技能的特殊环境。培训部分使用学术资源，包括公共卫生和社区医学学院，代谢，内分泌和营养学系以及放射学系。舒尔博士的赞助商和导师都是备受尊敬的科学家。她的研究也将受益于获得美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究中心，如一般临床研究中心。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This K23 award will allow Dr. Schur to become an independent investigator proficient in the design and conduct of interdisciplinary research on eating behavior and weight regulation. The training and research activities focus on complex environmental and genetic influences on eating habits and appetite regulation. The application proposes an intensive, 5-year program of mentored research and formal training activities to enhance Dr. Schur's skills and experience in: 1) clinical research methods and biostatistics, 2) eating behavior research, 3) physiology of appetite-regulation hormones and 4) twin research methods. In the long term, Dr. Schur will apply these skills to study the development and prevention of obesity. The research component of this career development award targets an aspect of abnormal eating behavior that has been described primarily as a psychological phenomenon. Restrained eaters are chronic dieters, some of whom are also prone to overeating. In experimental conditions, restrained eaters overeat after a high-calorie preload, such as a milkshake, whereas unrestrained eaters do not. This has been presumed to be a purely psychological effect, but physiological and genetic factors have not been investigated. Using the population-based University of Washington Twin Registry, the specific aims are to: 1) establish the genetic vs. environmental influences of restrained eating, 2) investigate the role of appetite-regulating hormones in the abnormal eating behaviors of restrained eaters and 3) compare brain activation in response to a high-calorie preload between restrained and unrestrained eaters. Specific Aim 1 will be addressed with a classical twin study and Specific Aims 2 and 3 will use with a co-twin control design. This project will establish a pathway for Dr. Schur's future investigations and hopefully benefit clinicians and researchers seeking to understand overeating behavior. The University of Washington is an exceptional environment for Dr. Schur to gain the skills needed to achieve her goals. The training component uses academic resources including the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition and Department of Radiology. Dr. Schur's sponsor and mentors are highly regarded and respected scientists. Her research also will benefit from access to NIH-funded research centers such as the General Clinical Research Center.