This is a competitive renewal application for an Alcohol Training Program in Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico (UNM-ARTN). This program is currently ending Year 14 of support. It has had a tremendously positive impact on graduate education at our institution and has increased visibility of alcohol research across campus. The program provides multidisciplinary training that includes molecular biological, biochemical, electrophysiological, imaging, and behavioral techniques. The focus of the UNM-ARTN program is to provide training in alcohol neuroscience research. Our group has strengths in three areas of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder research: 1. Basic mechanisms involved in ethanol neuroteratogenesis; 2. Biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure; and 3. Therapeutic interventions to ameliorate FASD-related cognitive deficits. A total of 12 faculty members from the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychology will be directly involved in the program as core faculty. These faculty members are well-funded and productive, and have extensive collaborative interactions in terms of research grants, publications, and mentoring of graduate students. Students will be from the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program of the Health Sciences Center and the Cognition, Brain and Behavior Program of the Psychology Department. The program will support 4 Ph.D. students per year. The program will be overseen by Dr. Valenzuela, a steering committee composed of members of the training faculty, and an external advisory committee. Our trainees have been very successful in terms of obtaining individual predoctoral fellowships, presenting at scientific meetings, and publishing in well-respected journals. Our goal is to continue to provide high quality graduate students with the necessary training to prepare them for a successful future career in alcohol research.

Public Health Relevance

This is a competitive renewal application for a program that will support training of graduate students for careers in alcohol neuroscience research. Alcohol abuse and addiction is a major public health problem that is responsible for a large number of illnesses, injuries, and deaths in the United States.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32AA014127-17
Application #
9768289
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDA1)
Program Officer
Cui, Changhai
Project Start
2003-08-08
Project End
2023-07-31
Budget Start
2019-08-01
Budget End
2020-07-31
Support Year
17
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
829868723
City
Albuquerque
State
NM
Country
United States
Zip Code
87131
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