Human genetic research has made remarkable progress in understanding the underlying genetic architecture of numerous human genetic traits. The underlying genetic lesions for thousands of Mendelian traits have now been identified and hundreds of associations with common polymorphisms have now been described using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Among these successes are numerous traits of aging, including dementia, Parkinson disease, macular degeneration, and successful aging, to name just a few. However, these studies have just begun the job of describing in detail the genetic architecture of traits of aging, as even for the intensively studied dementias, only a minority of the risk architecture has been described. The goal of this P30 Core application is to support the recruitment and start-up activities of a new tenure track faculty member in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The focus of this individual's research will be the neurogenetics of aging, with a further focus on human genetics. They will have an appointment within the Division of Human Genomics (DHG), Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University. They will also be appointed as an Investigator within the Center for Human Genetics Research (CHGR), the primary location for their research activities. They will have access to superlative core resources, collaborations and mentoring. Our goal is to identify and recruit an outstanding candidate who will complement the current expertise within the DHG and the CHGR and perform ground-breaking research in the neurogenetics of aging. To achieve this goal, we specifically propose to recruit internationally to identify a large pool of qualified applicants, select the best possible candidate, provide start-up resources and a collaborative atmosphere, and provide exemplary mentoring to guide this individual through their first years as a faculty member.
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