A new federal grant will allow young scientists to delve into the mechanisms of emotional eating and preeclampsia and other disorders not considered "classic" metabolic diseases.
"The grant provides Pennington Biomedical with the opportunity to establish a new research focus that should be a big benefit for the state of Louisiana, which has a disproportionately high incidence of metabolic diseases," said Jacqueline Stephens, PhD, Professor and the primary investigator on the new grant.
"This grant is perfectly aligned with the research center's mission and fully embraces the importance of understanding the basic mechanisms that regulate metabolic health. This research is vital to helping solve the epidemic of obesity and its related illnesses," said John Kirwan, PhD, Executive Director. "The COBRE will provide for the development and training of the next generation of independent scientists."
The five-year COBRE grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is expected to fund four research projects per year. The initial studies include:
All of the projects fall within the center's core mission to study disorders where metabolism clearly affects the incidence and progression of chronic diseases that reduce human life and health spans.
"It's a logical extension of the research we're already doing and builds on our unique institutional strengths," Dr. Stephens said. "For example, we provide the core services our postdocs need to further their research interests. Those services include cutting-edge technology and technical procedures ¬- microscopy and imaging of cells and tissues, cell culture facilities, comparative biology, mouse metabolism and behavior, genomics and transgenics."
The COBRE grant will also fund mentoring and training for Pennington Biomedical's young scientists and help them establish themselves so they can eventually secure their own research funding. Pennington Biomedical has an established and proven system for training and mentoring junior faculty.
The additional training focus in this grant award includes genomics (single-cell RNA sequencing) and light-sheet microscopy. Genomics provides a way to look at different parts of individual cells and identify patterns of gene expression, which helps researchers pinpoint the cells that affect obesity and other metabolic diseases. Light-sheet microscopy is a technology that offers faster, higher-resolution imaging - down to the subcellular level - than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT).
A substantial part of the Pennington Biomedical's success for training and mentoring junior faculty has been due to COBRE awards led by Dr. Thomas Gettys entitled "Mentoring Obesity and Diabetes Research in Louisiana." Gettys is a Pennington Biomedical professor and serves as director of its Nutrient Sensing and Adipocyte Signaling Laboratory. He helped launch several successful researchers, who now have their own independent, NIH funding. Getty's COBRE to date has won $24.8 million in scientific grant awards.
"The hope and the aim is to repeat that success with this new COBRE award," Dr. Stephens said.
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