The present application requests a diversity supplement to 1R01AA026537 (PI ? Joyce Besheer). The support is requested to facilitate the postdoctoral training of an outstanding and talented Hispanic American female postdoctoral student Dr. Laura Ornelas. The purpose of this career and research training plan is to facilitate the career development of Dr. Laura Ornelas, who has the explicit goal of becoming an independent academic researcher specializing in neurobehavioral aspects of alcohol abuse. With the quality research training and career development activities proposed and outlined in the application, she will acquire the skills necessary for advancing her training and contributing to the growth of an independent and critical thinker, and a scientist who will be a highly competitive faculty candidate. Dr. Ornelas? training will be under the supervision of Dr. Joyce Besheer, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and a member of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies (BCAS) at the University of North Carolina ? Chapel Hill. Dr. Besheer has shown a strong commitment to student mentoring at all training levels, undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral. The proposed work is within the scope, but not redundant with the studies of the parent grant. The experiments which Dr. Laura Ornelas will conduct are designed to extend these studies by focusing on 1) the brain regional neuronal response to the predator odor (PO) and re-exposure to the PO-paired context, 2) the consequence of predator odor exposure and re-exposure to the context on the re-initiation of self-administration following an abstinence period (relapse-like drinking), 3) and the involvement of the nucleus reuniens related brain circuitry in this re-initiation of drinking. Consequently, the conduct of this work will provide a richer and more comprehensive understanding of neuroadaptive changes and the lasting effects of PO exposure on alcohol self-administration. This application includes a thorough and well-described mentoring plan for Dr. Ornelas? research and career development. This research/career development plan is designed to ensure that Dr. Ornelas will broaden her scientific skill set, and gain experience and develop skills necessary for a career in the biomedical sciences, specifically in alcohol research, which is Dr. Ornelas? career objective.
This is a Diversity Supplement to promote the professional and research development of a talented postdoctoral researcher Dr. Laura Ornelas. Dr. Ornelas' career goal is to have her own independent alcohol research program and the present application is tailored to provide her with strong professional, research and development skills.
| Makhijani, Viren H; Van Voorhies, Kalynn; Besheer, Joyce (2018) The mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone reduces alcohol self-administration in female and male rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 175:10-18 |
