Neurobiology of avoidant/restrictive eating in youth

项目摘要/摘要 申请人伊丽莎白·A·劳森，医学博士，医学硕士，马萨诸塞州执业神经内分泌学家。 哈佛医学院综合医院医学副教授。在过去的十年里，戴维斯博士。 劳森的研究集中在荷尔蒙信号、大脑功能、心理学和 不同体重和饮食失调的人类的饮食行为。她的成功指导 经验、出版物和资金记录表明了她对以病人为本的承诺和热情 研究并为实现K24奖项的目标和目的提供良好的基础。这个 具体目标是：1)使劳森博士能够投入时间指导初级临床研究人员 NIH已经资助了R01基金，用于研究避免/限制饮食的神经生物学基础；2)指导 来自麻省理工学院精神病学、内分泌学和其他领域的住院医生、研究员和初级教员 机构的目标是将他们培养成能够成功竞争同行的临床研究人员- 审查了与NIMH任务相关的拨款；以及3)使劳森博士能够进一步确定患者- 利用创新的多学科技术研究神经生物学的定向研究计划 潜在的饮食行为，这为培养未来的临床领导者提供了一个理想的环境 研究。培训环境在教学资源和技术可获得性方面是突出的 评估跨学科的终点。重要的是，劳森博士拥有领导层的坚定承诺 内分泌学和精神病学都热情地支持她的研究计划，指导和 K24提案。应用程序的具体研究目标是基于最近资助的R01调查 避免/限制进食青少年的激素、脑功能和临床特征之间的联系。 重要的新方向将包括多模式神经成像，包括评估大脑结构(灰色 物质体积和白质连通性)及其与脑功能异常和临床的关系 功能。

Project Summary/Abstract The applicant, Elizabeth A. Lawson, M.D., M.M.Sc., is a practicing neuroendocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Over the last decade Dr. Lawson’s research has focused on the link between hormone signaling, brain functioning, psychology and eating behavior in humans across a spectrum of weights and eating disorders. Her successful mentoring experience, publication and funding record demonstrate her commitment and passion for patient-oriented research and provide an excellent foundation to accomplish the goals and objectives of the K24 Award. The specific aims are: 1) To enable Dr. Lawson to dedicate time to mentor junior clinical investigators based on her already NIH funded R01 grant on neurobiological underpinnings of avoidant/restrictive eating; 2) To mentor residents, fellows, and junior faculty from Psychiatry, Endocrinology, and other fields at MGH and across institutions with the goal of developing them into clinical investigators who can successfully compete for peer- reviewed grants related to the NIMH mission; and 3) To enable Dr. Lawson to further establish a patient- oriented research program that uses innovative multidisciplinary techniques to investigate the neurobiology underlying eating behaviors, and that provides an ideal environment to develop future leaders in clinical research. The training environment is outstanding in terms of didactic resources and availability of techniques to assess cross-disciplinary endpoints. Importantly, Dr. Lawson has the strong commitment from leadership of both Endocrinology and Psychiatry who have enthusiastically endorsed her research program, mentoring, and K24 proposal. The specific research aims of the application are based on a recently funded R01 investigating the link between hormones, brain function and clinical features in youth with avoidant/restrictive eating. Important new directions will include multimodal neuroimaging, including assessment of brain structure (gray matter volume and white matter connectivity) and relationship with functional brain abnormalities and clinical features.