Veterinarians are broadly trained health professionals who are uniquely qualified to participate in biomedical research, having an understanding of disease in the context of the whole organism. The One Science, One Health concept, integrating principles and discoveries in both human and veterinary medicine, has received increased attention with new zoonotic outbreaks as well as increasingly common chronic aging conditions.1,2 The NIH Roadmap for Medical Research is designed to open up new opportunities to tackle the multifactorial causes of diseases not yet understood, particularly those associated with a longer lived, aging population with multiple conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus, autoimmunity, and increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. There is a need to understand the impact of genotype/posttranslational events on these conditions. Increasingly, research progress requires multidisciplinary teams creating novel approaches to understanding disease mechanistically and translating findings into preventative measures and treatments. Veterinary researchers uniquely contribute to all areas of comparative biomedical research, particularly in animal model-based research, which has been expanding to an estimated half of all current NIH research projects. Significant matching funds from Texas A&M University will continue to increase the impact of this T32 program and help alleviate this national shortage. The proposed research program is broadly interdisciplinary, with mentors having significant peer-reviewed funding. These outstanding mentors were chosen from 5 Texas A&M University colleges, and share in common their desire to train veterinarians in basic biomedical research. Research areas include infectious and metabolic diseases, toxicology, nutrition, developmental biology, cancer and neuroscience, giving mentees the broadest possible selection of biomedical research areas, as well as outstanding mentors. In this competitive renewal proposal, we propose to continue providing outstanding mentors and an excellent environment for veterinarians to obtain significant biomedical research experience. The program has enrolled 6 DVMs since the beginning of the program in 2010 and 2 have finished their program, while 4 are still in training. The two trainees who have finished the program obtained PhDs and both are now employed as Assistant Professors at major universities. One has recently obtained a NIH KO8 award. Thus our trainees in this young program have attained an excellent track record to date.

Public Health Relevance

In this competitive training grant renewal proposal, we propose to continue providing outstanding mentors and an excellent environment for veterinarians to obtain significant biomedical research experience. The program has enrolled 6 DVMs since the beginning of the program in 2010 and 2 have finished their program, while 4 are still in training. The two trainees who have finished the program obtained PhDs and both are now employed as Assistant Professors at major universities. One has recently obtained a NIH KO8 award. Thus our trainees in this young program have attained an excellent track record to date.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32OD011083-10
Application #
9719926
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Watson, Harold L
Project Start
2010-07-07
Project End
2020-05-31
Budget Start
2019-06-01
Budget End
2020-05-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Texas A&M Agrilife Research
Department
Veterinary Sciences
Type
Schools of Veterinary Medicine
DUNS #
847205713
City
College Station
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77845
Milligan, Sherrelle; Martin, Gregory G; Landrock, Danilo et al. (2018) Ablating both Fabp1 and Scp2/Scpx (TKO) induces hepatic phospholipid and cholesterol accumulation in high fat-fed mice. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids 1863:323-338
Barrington, William T; Wulfridge, Phillip; Wells, Ann E et al. (2018) Improving Metabolic Health Through Precision Dietetics in Mice. Genetics 208:399-417
Hodo, Carolyn L; Mauldin, Matthew R; Light, Jessica E et al. (2018) Novel Poxvirus in Proliferative Lesions of Wild Rodents in East Central Texas, USA. Emerg Infect Dis 24:1069-1072
Hensel, Martha E; Negron, Maria; Arenas-Gamboa, Angela M (2018) Brucellosis in Dogs and Public Health Risk. Emerg Infect Dis 24:1401-1406
Meason-Smith, Courtney; Edwards, Erin E; Older, Caitlin E et al. (2017) Panfungal Polymerase Chain Reaction for Identification of Fungal Pathogens in Formalin-Fixed Animal Tissues. Vet Pathol 54:640-648
Hodo, Carolyn L; Bertolini, Nicole R; Bernal, John C et al. (2017) Lack of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Urban Roof Rats (Rattus rattus) at a Texas Facility Housing Naturally Infected Nonhuman Primates. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 56:57-62
Kim, Hyemee; Banerjee, Nivedita; Barnes, Ryan C et al. (2017) Mango polyphenolics reduce inflammation in intestinal colitis-involvement of the miR-126/PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis in vitro and in vivo. Mol Carcinog 56:197-207
Hodo, Carolyn L; Hamer, Sarah A (2017) Toward an Ecological Framework for Assessing Reservoirs of Vector-Borne Pathogens: Wildlife Reservoirs of Trypanosoma cruzi across the Southern United States. ILAR J 58:379-392
Elfenbein, Johanna R; Knodler, Leigh A; Schaeffer, Allison R et al. (2017) ASalmonellaRegulator Modulates Intestinal Colonization and Use of Phosphonoacetic Acid. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 7:69
Landrock, Danilo; Milligan, Sherrelle; Martin, Gregory G et al. (2017) Effect of Fabp1/Scp-2/Scp-x Ablation on Whole Body and Hepatic Phenotype of Phytol-Fed Male Mice. Lipids 52:385-397

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