BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application

摘要 酒精使用障碍是退伍军人和普通军人的主要健康问题之一。 人口。退伍军人管理局使命的一个组成部分是为退伍军人管理局患者提供护理 从酒精和/或药物滥用问题，有或没有共患焦虑。的总体目标 潘迪博士的研究计划是为了阐明 酒精使用障碍(AUD)和共病焦虑症的病理生理学。数不胜数 潘迪博士的实验室进行的研究发现，接触乙醇会导致 表观遗传学改变包括组蛋白乙酰化/甲基化、DNA甲基化和非 编码调控杏仁核基因表达的RNA。他的主要关注点 实验室是这些表观遗传机制和非编码RNA在 特定神经回路的转录改变，特别是在杏仁核，以及 随后导致酒精戒断的行为表型的诱导- 诱发性焦虑及焦虑与AUD并存。他的实验室正在调查 急性和慢性酒精暴露和戒断的不同表观遗传效应 早期和成年动物模型，以及在#年暴露于酒精的成年动物中。 青春期。然后，这些发现被翻译到人类身上，使用的是 AUD患者和对照受试者。除了他自己的实验室的研究外，他还说。 潘迪策划了几项活动，以丰富NEXT的教育- 一代和目前该领域的研究人员，并参与了许多合作 与退伍军人事务部和UIC研究人员进行的研究。总而言之，这些研究项目正在形成 该领域对AUD的理解，并将为新药理的开发提供信息 在退伍军人和非退伍军人中，治疗AUD的干预措施，有无共病焦虑 普通人口。

Abstract Alcohol use disorder is one of the major health concerns for veterans, as well as for the general population. An integral part of the mission of the VA is to provide care for VA patients suffering from alcohol and/or drug abuse problems with and without comorbid anxiety. The overall aim of Dr. Pandey’s research program is to elucidate the epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the pathophysiology of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and co-morbid anxiety disorders. Numerous studies performed by Dr. Pandey’s laboratory have found that ethanol exposure results in epigenetic alterations involving histone acetylation/methylation, DNA methylation, and non- coding RNAs that modulate gene expression in the amygdala. The major focus of his laboratory is the role of these epigenetic mechanisms and non-coding RNAs in transcriptomic changes in specific neural circuitries, particularly in the amygdala, and the subsequent induction of behavioral phenotypes that underlie ethanol withdrawal- induced anxiety and the co-morbidity of anxiety and AUD. His lab investigates the differential epigenetic effects of acute and chronic alcohol exposure and withdrawal in both early-life and adult animal models, as well as in adult animals that were exposed to alcohol in adolescence. These findings are then translated to humans using postmortem brains of individuals with AUD and control subjects. In addition to his own laboratory’s research, Dr. Pandey has programmed several events for the educational enrichment of next- generation and current researchers in the field and is involved in many collaborative studies with VA and UIC researchers. Taken together, these research projects are shaping the field’s understanding of AUD and will inform the development of novel pharmacological interventions for the treatment of AUD, with and without comorbid anxiety, in veterans and in the general population.