The overall objective of this five year award is to develop the independent investigative potential of Paige A. McDonald, Ph.D. Dr. McDonald intends to pursue a research career that explores the contribution of behavioral and psychosocial factors, and the subsequent inter-relationship with biomedical factors, on the health status of women. The candidate has specific research interest in the relationship between stress and immune function among women with a genetic predisposition to cancer. Given her clinical psychology background, it is evident that the candidate will need a substantial period of development to ensure her success as an independent researcher in the area of psychoneuroimmunology. To support and enhance her development, the Women's Health Initiative Minority Investigative Career Development Award is sought. The Women's Health Initiative, the largest study in history of the causes of morbidity and mortality associated with chronic disease among women, will provide the perfect environment for the mentored development of this candidate's career. This award will provide stability and opportunity for commitment to a single research endeavor for five years. The candidate will remain committed to this project during the conceptualization, recruitment, implementation, data analysis, and publication of results.
The specific aims of the present award are to: 1) strengthen the candidate's present training and ability to conduct psychoneuroimmunological research through course work, laboratory training, and clinical/practical experience; 2) develop the candidate's ability to successfully conceptualize, research, write, submit, and review grant proposals and manuscripts; and 3) develop the candidate's ability to independently conduct a research project. The specific objective of the present research is to investigate the contribution of psychological and behavioral factors to immune function in women with a family history of cancer. This will be accomplished by studying the immune function of women currently enrolled in the observational study of the Women's Health Initiative of the Nation's Capital. This site is sponsored by the Medlantic Research Institute and Howard University the candidate's institution.
| McDonald, Paige A Green; Williams, Rosemary; Dawkins, Fitzroy et al. (2002) Breast cancer survival in African American women: is alcohol consumption a prognostic indicator? Cancer Causes Control 13:543-9 |
| Wild, K V; Kaye, J A; Oken, B S (1994) Early noncognitive change in Alzheimer's disease and healthy aging. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 7:199-205 |
| Payami, H; Montee, K; Kaye, J (1994) Evidence for familial factors that protect against dementia and outweigh the effect of increasing age. Am J Hum Genet 54:650-7 |
| Payami, H; Kaye, J; Becker, W et al. (1991) HLA-A2, or a closely linked gene, confers susceptibility to early-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease in men. Neurology 41:1544-8 |
