This is an application for renewal of an NIH Research Career Award (RCA). The primary purpose of the application is to reduce the applicant's teaching load to a level that will allow him to pursue ongoing research on the genetic basis of alcohol action. A typical teaching load in the Department of Psychology is four full-semester courses per year. The only exceptions are faculty who have career research awards. I have initiated a study wherein we are identifying and mapping mouse genes of relevance to alcoholism using the Long-Sleep (LS) and Short-Sleep (SS) lines of mice that were selectively bred for differential sensitivity to the anesthetizing action of alcohol. We have localized major QTLs for this trait are are closing on the genes underlying the phenotype using congenic strain analysis. During the tenure of this award I will pursue research in the biological and molecular basis of alcohol action both in this model as well as the DBA/2 by C57BL/6 mouse model for alcohol preference/avoidance. I am currently in the third year of a 4-year R01 to map genes leading to neurosensitivity to ethanol and have an application pending to identify new QTLs for a variety of traits using a series of 110 RIs from the ILS by ISS strains. The RSDA will also provide the opportunity for increased interactions with personnel in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) which includes Drs. Richard Deitrich, and James Sikela and members of their respective laboratories as well as Dr. Gene Erwin in the School of Pharmacy also at the UCHSC. Active collaborations are already underway with Drs. Deitrich, Erwin, Adron Harris (now at U. Texas) and Sikela. I will continue to develop my expertise in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics and to learn microarray methodologies to test the hypothesis that particular genes are involved in alcohol action. Additional educational experience will be obtained by regular attendance of the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA), the biannual meeting of the Gordon Conference on QTL Mapping as well as specialized meetings on the molecular genetic basis of alcohol action, as these conferences should arise. I will continue to develop my knowledge of QTL mapping by discussions and interactions with colleagues both at CU and elsewhere who are expert both in the molecular basis of gene detection and analysis.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 23 publications
