Postdoctoral Training in the Biology of Drug Abuse

说明(申请人提供)：这笔培训补助金的总体目的是在物质滥用的神经生物学领域为年轻的基础科学家和医生提供博士后培训，重点是在遗传、分子、回路和行为层面上精神刺激剂和鸦片类药物的作用模式。我们的目标是提供一个令人兴奋和创新的环境，拥有世界级的设施和教师，以培养在药物滥用领域工作的下一代科学家。培训将在密歇根大学的多学科环境中进行。这15名教员都是NIDA的获奖者(或联合调查人员)，他们在药物滥用的神经生物学方面拥有专业知识，特别是在阿片类药物和精神刺激药物领域。该提案的重点是对博士后和博士后研究员进行最先进的方法培训，以研究精神活性药物滥用的潜在机制。这包括研究导致易受药物滥用影响的遗传、发育和环境因素；滥用药物在分子、细胞、解剖和行为层面上的作用模式；以及通过神经可塑性机制调节的精神活性药物对大脑的长期影响。有效的假设是，与慢性药物使用相关的功能和结构重建是建立在对这些药物的耐受性、敏感化、身体依赖和心理成瘾的基础上的。密歇根大学的药物滥用研究社区质量很高，在该领域有着悠久的历史。培训教员除了各自的优势外，还相互之间有着长期的科学和培训关系。这些历史优势最近在密歇根大学的一些倡议下得到了显著加强，这些倡议旨在促进生命科学研究，特别是神经科学研究。它们包括用于小鼠和大鼠遗传学、基因组学、蛋白质组学和信息学的最新工具。因此，我们的受训人员将受益于一个高度复杂但具有支持性的研究和培训环境。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall purpose of this training grant is to provide postdoctoral training to young basic scientists and physicians in the area of neurobiology of substance abuse, with a focus on the mode of action of psychostimulant and opiate drugs at the genetic, molecular, circuit and behavioral levels. Our objective is to provide an exciting and innovative environment with world class facilities and faculty to develop the next generation of scientists working in drug abuse. Training will take place in the multidisciplinary setting at the University of Michigan. The 15 faculty are all NIDA grantees (or Co-Investigators) and have expertise in the neurobiology of substance abuse, with particular emphasis on the area of opioid and psychostimulant drugs. The focus of the proposal is the training of Ph.D. and M.D. postdoctoral fellows in state-of-the-art approaches for studying mechanisms underlying abuse of psychoactive drugs. This includes studying the genetic, developmental and environmental factors that lead to vulnerability to substance abuse: the mode of action of drugs of abuse at the molecular, cellular, anatomical and behavioral levels; and the long-term consequences of psychoactive drugs on the brain, as mediated through mechanisms of neural plasticity. The working assumption is that the functional and structural brain remodeling associated with chronic drug use lies at the basis of tolerance, sensitization, physical dependence, and psychological addiction to these drugs. The drug abuse research community at the University of Michigan is of high quality and has a long history in the field. Beyond their individual strengths, the training faculty members have long-term scientific and training relationships with each other. These historical strengths have recently been significantly enhanced with a number of initiatives at the University of Michigan, designed to facilitate life science research in general, and neuroscience research in particular. They include state-of-the-art tools for mouse and rat genetics, genomics, proteomics, and informatics. Thus, our trainees will profit from a highly sophisticated, yet supportive, research and training environment.