This is an application for a T32 training grant titled ?Training in Translational Research in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (TRIAD)? to support 4 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral fellows. The overall goal of the proposed program is to provide cross-disciplinary training from bench to bedside, to produce a new translational workforce that is critically needed to develop and advance effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Trainees will receive rigorous and innovative translational research education and training through a 3-cluster multidisciplinary and integrative mentoring program that spans the discovery continuum from molecular/biochemical methods, preclinical translational approaches and clinical research. The thematic focus is on risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; these risk factors include cerebrovascular disease, neuroinflammation, Down syndrome, and traumatic brain injury. The training program has 18 faculty mentors with established and extensive interactions and collaborations, and successful track records in training. The faculty mentors encompass diverse areas of expertise from cell & molecular biology, genetics, and data science, through preclinical model systems, therapeutic development, neuroimaging, neuropathology, clinical trials, and longitudinal clinical studies. The majority (13) of these mentors are housed within the University of Kentucky Sanders Brown Center on Aging, which includes a long-standing NIA-funded Alzheimer's Disease Center. All faculty with primary appointments in a Center also have academic appointments in other basic science or clinical departments at the University of Kentucky. Predoctoral trainees will be recruited from our Integrated Biomedical Sciences graduate program and from the MD/PhD program in the College of Medicine, and postdoctoral trainees through targeted advertisement and recommendations from colleagues and other Alzheimer's Disease Centers. In addition to their individualized research program and career development plan, each group of trainees will participate in a series of educational experiences that include a dedicated AD101 course in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, seminars describing research and clinic ethics, monthly research and career development seminars, journal clubs, Training the Trainers workshops, and grant writing workshops. Each year trainees will be expected to present their research at the annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia. Postdoctoral trainees will be provided with additional training opportunities, including: 1) a short off-site externship at another laboratory that conducts Alzheimer's disease research and 2) presentations at the annual College of Medicine Postdoctoral Poster Session. Quantitative and qualitative metrics for evaluation of trainees and the training program will assure a high-quality and effective training experience. The outcomes of our program are intended to nurture highly innovative, well-trained scholars who are dedicated and passionate about finding new approaches to prevent or slow Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Our training program for ?Translational Research in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (TRIAD)? will provide predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees with the cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills needed to discover, develop, and advance new treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Trainees will be provided with expertise in cutting edge approaches from molecular methods to preclinical approaches and translation to clinical research. Our highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and supportive team-based environment at the University of Kentucky will produce the skilled workforce that is critically needed to meet the national goal of developing a treatment for Alzheimer's by 2025.
| Lee, Jennifer; Yanckello, Lucille M; Ma, David et al. (2018) Neuroimaging Biomarkers of mTOR Inhibition on Vascular and Metabolic Functions in Aging Brain and Alzheimer's Disease. Front Aging Neurosci 10:225 |
| Hargis, Kendra; Buechel, Heather M; Popovic, Jelena et al. (2018) Acute psychosocial stress in mid-aged male rats causes hyperthermia, cognitive decline, and increased deep sleep power, but does not alter deep sleep duration. Neurobiol Aging 70:78-85 |
