Training in Drug Abuse Related Research

描述（由申请人提供）：此申请是为了续签由路易斯·赫什指导，琳达·德沃斯金和莎伦·沃尔什联合指导的培训项目。我们要求继续支持四名博士预科生和两名博士后受训者，利用肯塔基大学三个学院和五个不同部门的15名培训教员。所有培训教师都是由国家药物开发协会资助的，或者与国家药物开发协会资助的培训教师合作，他们的研究主要集中在药物滥用的分子方面。肯塔基大学在药物滥用研究方面有着悠久的历史，包括药物和酒精研究中心以及药物和酒精研究和翻译中心。该培训计划的目标仍然是为从事药物滥用研究的有前途的研究生和博士后做准备。该计划提供现代药物滥用研究方面的广泛培训，特别强调研究参与药物反应的受体的细胞和分子方面，以及与这些受体相互作用的配体的发展，作为药物滥用的潜在药物治疗。培训教员对在分子水平上理解与药物滥用有关的基本机制有共同的兴趣。培训师资的重点是阿片受体配体的结构，阿片受体配体对生理过程的影响，以及阿片受体所涉及的蛋白质和配体的结构和功能。学员从一个强大的教师那里学习，他们利用最先进的方法来研究药物滥用。这个项目的一个独特之处在于学员与其他教师和参与药物滥用行为方面的学员的互动，使他们对药物滥用研究有了广泛的了解。希望这一独特的培训机会能够满足对药物滥用研究领域有广泛了解的新调查人员的需求。

DESCRIPTION ( provided by applicant): This application is for renewal of a training program directed by Louis Hersh and co-directed by Linda Dwoskin and Sharon Walsh. We request continued support for four predoctoral and two postdoctoral trainees utilizing a training faculty of 15 housed in three colleges and 5 different departments within the University of Kentucky. All of the training faculty have been funded through NIDA or collaborate with NIDA funding training faculty with their research broadly focused on the molecular aspects of drug abuse. The University of Kentucky has a long history of involvement in drug abuse research and includes the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and the Center for Drug and Alcohol Research and Translation. The goal of this training program continues to be the preparation of promising graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for careers in drug abuse research. The program provides broad-based training in modern aspects of drug abuse research with a particular emphasis on studying the cellular and molecular aspects of receptors involved in the response to drugs and the development of ligands which interact with these receptors as potential pharmacotherapy's for drug abuse. The training faculty share a common interest in understanding basic mechanisms related to drug abuse at the molecular level. The emphasis of the training faculty focus on the structure of opiate receptor ligands, the effects of opiate receptor ligands on physiological processes, and the structure and function of the proteins and ligands involved in opiate receptors. Trainees learn from a strong faculty who utilize state-of-the-art methodological approaches to drug abuse research. A unique aspect of this program is the interaction of trainees with other faculty and trainees involved in the behavioral aspects of drug abuse, giving them a broad based understanding of drug abuse research. This unique training opportunity is hoped to fill the need for new investigators in drug abuse research who have a broad understanding of the field. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This program is designed to train graduate students and postdocs for a career in drug abuse research, providing them with the tools to conduct research on the molecular aspects of drug abuse while at the same time endowing them with an understanding of the behavioral aspects of drug abuse.