Alaska INBRE-2: Environmental Agents and Disease

描述（由申请人提供）：阿拉斯加INBRE-2的提案旨在加强和扩大我们的阿拉斯加生物医学研究和培训网络，并确保其自我维持。INBRE-2研究以INBRE-1取得的进展为基础，以补充阿拉斯加在基本细胞生物学和来自环境的化学和微生物疾病剂，包括禽流感和土拉热病等新出现的传染性人畜共患疾病方面的专门知识。这些微生物学和毒理学主题与阿拉斯加强大的生态学项目相结合。BRIN和INBRE聘请了7位在研究和教学生涯中起步良好的教师，他们已经成功地竞争了联邦研究资助。生物信息学/计算核心和仪器支持将继续成为阿拉斯加大学（UA）所有校区生命科学项目的资产。主要的INBRE-2投资集中在7个额外的教师、学生、教师设置、合作研究伙伴关系（包括与州公共卫生实验室的联合任命）、研究行政支持和教育推广。我们的INBRE教师社区包括INBRE-1聘请的人员，其他UA附属教师正在成为生物医学研究的合作者，以及填补微生物学，毒理学，细胞生物学和临床转化应用研究空白的新员工。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal for Alaska INBRE-2 aims to strengthen and expand our Alaska network for biomedical research and training and to ensure that it is self-sustaining. INBRE-2 research builds on the advances made in INBRE-1 to fill out Alaska expertise in basic cell biology and in chemical and microbial disease agents from the environment, including emerging infectious zoonotic diseases like avian influenza and tularemia. These microbiology and toxicology themes interface with the strong ecology programs in Alaska. BRIN and INBRE hired 7 faculty who are well-started on their research and teaching careers and are already competing successfully for federal research grants. The bioinformatics/computational core and instrumentation support will continue to be assets for programs across the life sciences on all campuses of the University of Alaska (UA). Major INBRE-2 investments focus on 7 additional faculty, students, faculty setups, collaborative research partnerships (including joint appointments with state public health labs), administrative support for research, and educational outreach. Our INBRE faculty community includes those hired by INBRE-1, other affiliate UA faculty who are becoming collaborators in biomedical research, and new hires to fill in gaps in microbiology, toxicology, cell biology, and clinical-translational applications of research. One of the new scientists is an executive director for biomedical research for the Alaska university system. INBRE initiatives parallel UA's own and are tightly linked to mainline UA priorities and evolving governance. The Alaska INBRE network has two major nodes, at UAA (Anchorage) and UAF (Fairbanks). INBRE has partnerships with: the State Department of Public Health, other smaller college units, K-12 education, the health delivery community, and collaborators in the Northwest region. It supports graduate fellowships and undergraduate research awards and formalizes the process of making students aware of on-campus research opportunities. It continues to sponsor postdoctoral fellows and to encourage their integration into the UA's academic culture. It funds and facilitates a suite of programs for pre-college students, particularly those in rural villages where Alaska Natives are in majority. We assist, train, and counsel students to do research in high school, to learn modem biology in summer courses, to transition to college, to do research in college and to apply for post-graduate training. The educational pipeline that draws students from rural Alaska toward the university can become a two-way conduit that encourages these communities to better teach us what they know and what they need. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE (provided by applicant): Alaska INBRE addresses global health priorities: emerging infectious agents, contaminant impacts on food quality and safety, recruitment of indigenous peoples into health careers, and integration of bench biomedical science with ecological perspectives. Alaska is a dump-site for atmospheric contaminants and the cross-over point for exchanges of emerging zoonotic agents between eastern and western hemispheres. By building biomedical capacity, we make Alaska competent to respond to new threats like avian influenza.