Despite major advances in treatment during the past decade, type 2 diabetes remains a leading cause of death and disability. Improved strategies for primary and secondary prevention are urgently required to check the expanding public health burden related to type 2 diabetes. In the US, the need for such advances is especially acute in African Americans and other minority populations, who suffer disproportionately from type 2 diabetes and its complications, yet enjoy less access to high-quality medical care. To make these advances, young patient-oriented researchers will need mentorship in the areas of molecular epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, clinical trials, preventive medicine, and translational research. As an expert in these areas, the candidate proposes to apply K24 funds towards the mentorship of a growing cadre of young, patient-oriented scholars at Johns Hopkins committed to the epidemiology and prevention of type 2 diabetes and its complications, with special emphasis on diabetes in the African American community.
Specific aims on the way to this overarching goal are as follows: (1) Recruit a multi-disciplinary team of talented young diabetes scholars;(2) Promote formal training in epidemiology and clinical research methods;(3) Place trainees in a rich, supportive, highly collaborative research environment;(4) Guide trainees towards novel research questions that spark collaborations with laboratory scientists and sub-specialty experts in patient- oriented research;and (5) Provide research mentorship for projects based in Look AHEAD--an on-going multi-center NIH-funded trial designed to be the definitive test of the health benefits of weight loss in 5000 adults with type 2 diabetes). At Hopkins, three NIH-funded Ancillary Studies to Look AHEAD (each lead by a junior faculty who wrote their grant under Dr. Brancati's mentorship) create outstanding opportunities for young diabetes scholars: (1) an magnetic resonance-based study of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Hepatic Energy Homeostatis (n=244);(2) a study of Heavy Metals, Obesity, and CVD Risk that uses neutron activation analysis to determine metal content of nail clippings (n=3000);and (3) a study of Environmental Influences on Weight, Weight Loss, and Related Factors that uses geocoding to link residential address to publicly available data on the local environment (n=1200). Dr. Brancati has already established a strong track record of mentorship in patient-oriented research in the epidemiology and prevention of type 2 diabetes and its complications. During the initial four years of the K24 Award (2002-2006), he successfully mentored 6 PhD students, 3 post-doctoral fellows, 2 medical residents, and 5 junior faculty members who published 42 first-author manuscripts. With continued K24 support, he can expand the breadth of his mentorship activities, draw even more young scholars into patient-oriented diabetes research at Hopkins and train the next generation of top mentors in patient-oriented diabetes research.
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