Mentoring Obesity and Diabetes Research in Louisiana

近三分之二的美国人口临床上超重或肥胖，近10%的人口患有成人型糖尿病。肥胖和糖尿病是统称为“代谢综合征”的一组病理学的中心要素。我们在彭宁顿生物医学研究中心的生物医学研究卓越中心（COBRE）正在努力通过招募有成就的高级研究人员和有前途的年轻科学家来加强对代谢疾病的研究。该彭宁顿COBRE涉及五个项目，从优秀的初级教师，采用细胞，分子和翻译的方法相结合，以解决问题，从葡萄糖传感和能量稳态的神经机制，炎症机制与脂肪形成，表观遗传编程肥胖，调节线粒体生物合成脂肪细胞。使用体内，离体和体外方法的组合，每个项目将追求的基本问题，关键的能量稳态的调节和相关的代谢疾病的病理学与肥胖症的发展过程中的脂肪组织质量的扩张。我们COBRE在第二阶段的具体目标是通过以下方式进一步扩大从事肥胖/糖尿病研究的生产性研究人员的临界质量：（a）从机构内部培养和留住优秀的新初级教师，并指导他们获得可持续的独立资金（B）招募从事代谢疾病研究的优秀初级和高级教师，补充中心研究人员的现有优势;（d）通过开发培训模块和外展活动，加强利用第一阶段细胞生物学/生物成像和基因组学核心设施内开发的优秀研究基础设施。我们的第二阶段COBRE目标是招募5名新教师到该机构，并指导10名初级教师独立资助，因为我们继续建立一个致力于寻找解决代谢疾病不断扩大的国家健康问题的科学家的临界质量。

Nearly two-thirds of the US population is either clinically overweight or obese and almost 10% of the population has adult-onset diabetes. Obesity and diabetes are central elements of a cluster of pathologies collectively referred to as "metabolic syndrome". Our Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center is leading an effort to enhance research on metabolic disease by recruiting accomplished senior investigators and promising young scientists who are mentored to independence by Center investigators. The Pennington COBRE involves five projects from outstanding junior faculty that employ a combination of cellular, molecular, and translational approaches to address questions ranging from neural mechanisms of glucose sensing and energy homeostasis, inflammatory mechanisms linked to adipogenesis, epigenetic programming in obesity, to regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis in adipocytes. Using a combination of in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro approaches, each project will pursue fundamental questions critical to regulation of energy homeostasis and the associated pathologies of metabolic disease linked to expansion of adipose tissue mass during development of obesity. The Specific Aims of our COBRE in Phase II are to further expand the critical mass of productive investigators engaged in obesity/diabetes research by (a) develop and retain outstanding new junior faculty from within the institution and mentor them to sustainable independent funding (b) recruit outstanding junior and senior faculty engaged in metabolic disease research that complement existing strengths of Center investigators; (c) develop and foster new opportunities for collaborative interactions with institutional colleagues engaged in clinical/translational research, (d) enhance utilization of the outstanding research infrastructure developed within the Cell Biology/Bioimaging and Genomics core facilities in Phase I through development of training modules and outreach activities. Our Phase II COBRE goals are to recruit 5 new faculty to the institution and mentor 10 junior faculty to independent funding as we continue to build a critical mass of scientists devoted to finding solutions to the expanding national health problem of metabolic disease.