Candidate: I am a Pulmonary/Critical Care physician with a long-standing commitment to becoming a physician-scientist. My short-term goal is to develop the skills necessary to study alcohol's effect on innate immunity, epigenetic changes caused by alcohol and in vivo models of alcohol consumption. These skills will provide me with the tools necessary to prepare a competitive R-01 at the end of my training period. My long- term career goal is to become a leader in the field of alcohol research by advancing the understanding of alcohol-induced changes to the innate immunity of the lung. Research Plan: We will structure my training around the goal of determining the mechanisms through which alcohol modulates the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in the airway epithelium. TLR2 is an important modulator of airway inflammation induced by gram-positive bacteria. This inflammatory response contributes to airway diseases such as bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We have shown that brief alcohol exposure leads to an increase in the expression of TLR2, while prolonged expression leads to a decrease of TLR2. We will determine the mechanism of this biphasic effect of alcohol by addressing the following specific aims: 1) Determine the mechanism of alcohol's modulation of RhoA activity, and how this regulates TLR2 expression in the airway epithelium. 2) Characterize the alcohol-induced epigenetic changes that lead to transcriptional changes in TLR2. 3) Determine the functional significance of alcohol's biphasic modulation of TLR2 in vivo. I will require additional training to be able to complete these aims. Specifically, I will take courses in epigenetics, cell signaling and statistics. I will receive hands on training in techniques related to epigenetic studies. I will attend alcohol-related journal clubs, conferences and lab meetings. I will also attend and present my data at national and international meetings. Environment: My chosen Mentor, Dr. Todd Wyatt, is a recognized expert in cyclic nucleotide signaling and funded alcohol lung researcher. In addition, the University of Nebraska Medical Center has numerous NIAAA funded researchers who will provide intensive mentoring for me during my training period. My department has committed 75% protected time for research, a technician, laboratory and office space, start-up funds, and equipment.

Public Health Relevance

Our long-term goal is to understand why alcoholics have more severe airway disease of the lung. A better understanding of how alcohol influences inflammatory processes in the lung will lead to more targeted therapy of airway disease in alcoholics and result in decreased morbidity and mortality.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08AA019503-05
Application #
8617198
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAA1-HH (01))
Program Officer
Jung, Kathy
Project Start
2010-03-01
Project End
2015-02-28
Budget Start
2014-03-01
Budget End
2015-02-28
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$184,474
Indirect Cost
$13,665
Name
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
168559177
City
Omaha
State
NE
Country
United States
Zip Code
68198
Nordgren, Tara M; Bailey, Kristina L (2016) Pulmonary health effects of agriculture. Curr Opin Pulm Med 22:144-9
Bailey, Kristina L; Romberger, Debra J; Katafiasz, Dawn M et al. (2015) TLR2 and TLR4 Expression and Inflammatory Cytokines are Altered in the Airway Epithelium of Those with Alcohol Use Disorders. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:1691-7
Poole, Jill A; Romberger, Debra J; Wyatt, Todd A et al. (2015) Age Impacts Pulmonary Inflammation and Systemic Bone Response to Inhaled Organic Dust Exposure. J Toxicol Environ Health A 78:1201-16
Bailey, K L; Bonasera, S J; Wilderdyke, M et al. (2014) Aging causes a slowing in ciliary beat frequency, mediated by PKC?. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 306:L584-9
Nordgren, Tara M; Wyatt, Todd A; Sweeter, Jenea et al. (2014) Motile cilia harbor serum response factor as a mechanism of environment sensing and injury response in the airway. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 306:L829-39
Bailey, Kl; Wyatt, Ta; Wells, Sm et al. (2014) Dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) overexpression attenuates agricultural organic dust extract-induced inflammation. J Environ Immunol Toxicol 2:72-78
Wyatt, T A; Wells, S M; Alsaidi, Z A et al. (2013) Asymmetric dimethylarginine blocks nitric oxide-mediated alcohol-stimulated cilia beating. Mediators Inflamm 2013:592892
Rennard, Stephen I; Bailey, Kristina L (2012) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: accurate and easy measurement promises much. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 185:1139-41
Bailey, Kristina L (2012) The importance of the assessment of pulmonary function in COPD. Med Clin North Am 96:745-52
Bailey, Kristina L; LeVan, Tricia D; Yanov, Daniel A et al. (2012) Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae decreases cilia beating via protein kinase C?. Respir Res 13:49

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