Dr. Stoeckel is a clinically trained neuropsychologist, a second-year postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Addiction Medicine and Psychological Assessment Center, and a research affiliate at the MGH-Martinos Biomedical Imaging Center and the Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who has been recommended for promotion to HMS Instructor in Psychology in June 2011. The proposed K23 will provide the advanced training and mentored research experience Dr. Stoeckel needs to prepare him to conduct independent patient-oriented addiction research (POAR). Dr. Stoeckel's goal is to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of drug-related and putative neurobehavioral addictions, such as certain phenotypes of obesity, with the aim of developing rational, novel therapeutics based on this knowledge. Dr. Stoeckel is poised to be able to become an independent investigator, and a period of advanced training, skill development and mentored clinical research with an exceptional multidisciplinary mentoring team in a rich environment known for fostering the development of independent clinician-scientists, are critical at this stage in his career to enable him to advance to the next stage as an independent clinician-scientist. During the award period, Dr. Stoeckel will achieve the following aims: (1) Develop expertise in methodologies critical to developing novel, individualized, neuroscience-based assessment tools and interventions for adults with addictions. (2) Conduct mentored POAR using neuropsychological assessments and real time functional magnetic resonance imaging (RTfMRI) neurofeedback to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of addiction and relapse and to investigate hypothesized pathophysiological commonalities between drug addiction and neurobehavioral addictions. (3) Undertake leadership training to prepare him for a role as an independent clinical and translational addiction neuroscientist and future leader of an addiction program specializing in drug-related and neurobehavioral addictions.
The specific aims to be accomplished during the K23 Award Period are (1) Establish expertise in neuroimaging modalities and psychophysiology assessment techniques, and in integrating these tools for POAR;(2) Conduct a mentored research project, utilizing these techniques to study reward and inhibitory control mechanisms in nicotine dependent and obese individuals that can be used to develop clinical interventions;(3) Obtain career mentorship from those successfully managing clinical and translational research programs, to prepare him for his long-term professional goal of leading a clinical addiction program and conducting clinical and translational neuropsychological/neuroscience research;and (4) Undertake specialized training in the ethical conduct of research. To accomplish these goals, Dr. Stoeckel will devote 75% effort toward accomplishing the clinical research training goals and POAR as outlined in this proposal.

Public Health Relevance

Nicotine dependence and obesity are the two greatest public health challenges facing the United States today. This proposal will provide training for a talented neuropsychologist who aims to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of addiction and obesity in order to develop new, more effective individualized therapies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
1K23DA032612-01
Application #
8226279
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Bjork, James M
Project Start
2012-04-15
Project End
2017-03-31
Budget Start
2012-04-15
Budget End
2013-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$164,903
Indirect Cost
$12,215
Name
Massachusetts General Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
073130411
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02199
Stoeckel, Luke E; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Zhang, Jiahe et al. (2016) Lower gray matter density and functional connectivity in the anterior insula in smokers compared with never smokers. Addict Biol 21:972-81
Val-Laillet, D; Aarts, E; Weber, B et al. (2015) Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity. Neuroimage Clin 8:1-31
Gilman, Jodi M; Curran, Max T; Calderon, Vanessa et al. (2014) Impulsive social influence increases impulsive choices on a temporal discounting task in young adults. PLoS One 9:e101570
Stoeckel, Luke E; Palley, Lori S; Gollub, Randy L et al. (2014) Patterns of brain activation when mothers view their own child and dog: an fMRI study. PLoS One 9:e107205
Stoeckel, L E; Garrison, K A; Ghosh, S et al. (2014) Optimizing real time fMRI neurofeedback for therapeutic discovery and development. Neuroimage Clin 5:245-55
Roh, Sungwon; Hoeppner, Susanne S; Schoenfeld, David et al. (2014) Acute effects of mecamylamine and varenicline on cognitive performance in non-smokers with and without schizophrenia. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231:765-75
Stoeckel, Luke E; Murdaugh, Donna L; Cox, James E et al. (2013) Greater impulsivity is associated with decreased brain activation in obese women during a delay discounting task. Brain Imaging Behav 7:116-28
Stoeckel, Luke E; Stewart, Christopher C; Griffith, H Randall et al. (2013) MRI volume of the medial frontal cortex predicts financial capacity in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. Brain Imaging Behav 7:282-92
Griffith, H Randall; Stewart, Christopher C; Stoeckel, Luke E et al. (2010) Magnetic resonance imaging volume of the angular gyri predicts financial skill deficits in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc 58:265-74