Meharry RCMI Program in Women's Health Research

这项RCMI项目续签申请的长期目标是扩大和提高梅哈里医学院(MMC)妇女健康研究的能力，包括艾滋病毒/艾滋病，特别强调那些对有色人种妇女影响不成比例的疾病。许多报告记录了高加索妇女和有色人种妇女之间的健康状况差异，特别是非裔美国人(AA)和西班牙裔妇女。在目前的申请中，我们寻求增加MMC妇女健康研究的能力，为最近聘用的两名RCMI调查人员提供持续支持。P·甘古拉博士将继续他对糖尿病胃轻瘫的研究，这种疾病在女性中的发病率是女性的4倍，N·伊斯梅尔博士将研究怀孕期间人类单核细胞埃立克体病的免疫调节。我们计划招募三名心理健康/行为科学调查员，以增加女性健康研究的这一维度。在试点项目的核心部分：董X.博士将研究HIV-1组装，S.Halder博士将研究维生素D缺乏症和再障妇女子宫肌瘤，C.Thota博士将寻求基因多态与早产维生素D缺乏症之间的关联。一支强大的资深科学家团队将为所有RCMI调查人员提供强大的指导和教师发展体验。现有的两个核心设施(蛋白质组和基因组和BL3/流式细胞术)将合并/升级，并将开发一个新的核心设施(女性组织获取核心)。RCMI计划将与其他MMC研究计划和RTRN网络相结合，以扩大和加强研究人员的资源和机会。当前申请的具体目标是：1)在获奖期结束时，超过3年平均2篇同行评审出版物/年/RCMI调查员；2)促进所有RCMI调查员在其支持的第三年之前提交由调查员发起的赠款申请；3)在奖励周期结束时，超过50%的RCMI调查员获得调查员发起的支持；以及4)有文件证明RCMI支持核心设施，生物信息学支持以及RTRN支持被适当地利用以实现上述成功。

The long range goal of this RCMI program renewal application is to expand and improve the capacity for women's health research, including HIV/AIDS at Meharry Medical College (MMC), placing particular emphasis on those diseases that disproportionately impact women of color. Numerous reports have documented differences in health status between Caucasian women and women of color, particularly African American (AA) and Hispanic Women. In the current application we seek to increase the capacity for women's health research at MMC by providing ongoing support for two recently hired RCMI investigators. Dr. P. Gangula will continue his studies on diabetic gastroparesis, which has a 4-times greater incidence in women, and Dr. N. Ismail will study immune regulation of human monocytic ehrlichiosis during pregnancy. We plan to recruit three mental health/behavioral science investigators to add this dimension of women's health research. In the pilot project core: Dr. X. Dong will study HIV-1 assembly, Dr. S. Halder will study Vitamin D deficiency and uterine fibroids in AA women and Dr. C. Thota will seek to correlate gene polymorphism and hypovitaminosis D in preterm birth. A strong team of senior scientists will facilitate a robust mentoring and faculty development experience for all RCMI Investigators. Two existing core facilities (Proteomic and Genomic & BL3/Flow Cytometry) will be merged /upgraded and a new core facility (Female Tissue Acquisition Core) will be developed. The RCMI program will be interfaced with other MMC research programs and the RTRN network to expand and enhance the resources and opportunities for investigators. The specific aims of the current application are to 1) exceed a 3 year average of 2 peer-reviewed publications/year/RCMI Investigator by the end of the award period; 2) to facilitate submission of investigator-initiated grant applications by all RCMI Investigators prior to their 3rd year of support; 3) to exceed 50% of RCMI investigators acquiring investigator-initiated support by the end of the award cycle; and 4) to have documented evidence that RCMI supported core facilities, bioinformatics support, as well as RTRN support were appropriately leveraged to achieve the above successes.