Stress is a complex medical problem in which psychological, social, cultural, and physiological factors all can interact in the development of illness. Stress-related health problems are endemic, and can take on any number of medical or psychiatric forms. This grant proposal describes a plan for the development of a new multidisciplinary mind-body center at NYU dedicated to basic, clinical, and translational research in stress and health. The unifying scientific themes of this center focus on the interactions of psychosocial stress, limbic brain, the neuroendocrine stress response (particularly the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathoadrenergic system) and the downstream effects of the stress response on physical and mental functioning. Other themes of this center include understanding the maladaptive stress-induced behaviors that worsen stress and health, as well as coping mechanisms and other protective factors that ameliorate the health effects of stress. The goal of this center is to build an intellectual environment in which program scientists from a variety of fields can meet for the free exchange of ideas and to develop standardized batteries of assessments for use in interdisciplinary research projects. An Administrative Core would organize center activities and funds, and would be responsible for data management. A Research Core would bring together program scientists and resources, and would be governed by committee. Pilot projects would serve as the starting point for the development of central standardized resources, including clinical protocols, basic science methods, and neuroimaging protocols. A Training & Development Core would provide cross-disciplinary training for group members and a forum for young researchers and clinicians to learn about research in stress and health, and to interact closely with senior investigators. Educational goals of the center include community and trainee outreach and annual conferences. The long-term vision for the proposed center is one in which ongoing interdisciplinary longitudinal studies of stress and health would coexist with individual research projects that utilize the same shared resources. Such an infrastructure would promote greater knowledge among individual researchers and would enrich the field of stress research by providing a regular forum for the discussion of research issues and plans for future projects. This infrastructure also would improve research cost efficiency by preventing study duplication, providing a centralized shared resources, and having an intrinsic system of checks and balances within the governing committee. ? ?
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