Jessica A. Mong - US grants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Methamphetamine (METH) is a psychomotor stimulant that is strongly associated with increases in sexual drive and behavior in both women and men. Even though men and women are equally as likely to be addicted to or use METH, studies of sexual behavior often focus on male users. The paucity in studies examining the effect of METH in women is of great concern, when one considers the high correlation with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies. In fact, why METH so profoundly increases sexual drive is unknown and, to our knowledge, relatively unexplored. In our recent work, we have employed a rodent model to examine the effects of METH on female sexual behavior and the underlying neural circuitry. We found that METH enhances sexual motivation in females, but this enhancement is dependent upon progesterone. Additionally, the combined administration of ovarian hormones (estradiol and progesterone) and METH enhances the neuronal activation in the medial amygdala and the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, two brain nuclei implicated in female sexual behaviors. Thus, the broad, long-term objective of the current application is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating the drug-sex nexus in females. We will employ a novel approach that utilizes a lesion technique that selectively targets neurons involved in mediating the effects of METH, thus establishing their role in the drug-sex nexus. The specific aims of the current proposal are to (i) establish whether a specific subpopulation of medial amygdala neurons is responsible for METH enhanced female sexual motivation, (ii) determine if METH and ovarian hormones induce structural and neurochemical plasticity in medial amygdala and (iii) investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the drug- sex nexus. The significance of advancing our understanding of the neurobiology that links female sexual motivation and METH use is the potential to uncover new foundations for the biological basis of addiction in women that involve the intersection of ovarian hormones, natural reward and drug-induced reward.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Program in Neuroscience (PIN) at the University of Maryland Baltimore provides contemporary predoctoral training with exceptional trainee outcomes in the discipline of neuroscience. The program currently supports 6 PIN students in years 1 & 2, prior to their commitment to a thesis project and faculty mentor. Major objectives of the program include 1) continued development of innovative educational techniques that harness the power of portable computing (iPad Initiative) and the opportunities they offer for accessing knowledge, flipped classrooms, visualization, presentation and communication, and 2) a well-honed Core Course Curriculum that provides students with diverse educational backgrounds a deep knowledge of biological principals and critical thinking thereby building a platform for life-long learning and scientific discovery. Supplemented by a continuously up-dated menu of required and elective courses, recently including Translational Psychiatry, Behavioral Neuroscience and Biostatistics Flipped, this curriculum fulfills our long-term goal of producing students with enduring learning skills that foster creative thinking and flexible problem solving, equipping them with the capacity to meet future challenges and opportunities. Career development is enhanced by multiple mechanisms including: 1) PIN specific Proseminar in Hypothesis Testing and Experimental Design; 2) opportunity to minor in Pharmacology, 3) grant and scientific writing workshops, 4) extensive training in oral, presentation and interviewing skils and 5) multiple and varied enrichment activities with local scientists in government, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and non-profit organizations. This training program provides the financial stability and organizational structure that frames the overall PIN, amplifying the impact of neuroscience in the larger Graduate Program in Life Sciences, the umbrella organization for PIN and seven other PhD granting programs. Consistently successful recruitment has been stable for many years, combined with increasing numbers of TGE and URM applicants and a faculty that has competed exceptionally well for research funding in challenging times. The University of Maryland Baltimore is a professional campus in an urban setting with a long-standing commitment to graduate education with the strong support of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing as well as the Graduate School. The Program's return on investment is evident in our highly successful graduates publishing 1st authored peer-reviewed manuscripts including in Science, Nature, Neuron and Nature Neuroscience and 98%, including all URMs, in continued training or currently employed as scientists. Current trainees beyond their first two years have all published at least one manuscript or abstract.

PROJECT SUMMARY The Program in Neuroscience (PiN) at the University of Maryland Baltimore is a broad-based, non-departmental multidisciplinary program that provides contemporary predoctoral training with exceptional trainee outcomes in the discipline of neuroscience. This interdisciplinary program consists of 57 students and 117 faculty from 14 departments and 3 schools. The 60 Training Grant faculty are representative of the breadth of research which spans molecular and cellular to systems and behavior to translational work. The long-standing JSPTPN training program (16yrs) is integral to the success of PiN. Serving as the nexus that connects all aspects of neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), it continues to drive the program?s excellence in training and research. Our mission is to provide a center of excellence for the training of outstanding graduate students in the field of neuroscience. The program currently supports 6 PiN students in years 1 & 2. In the current application we are requesting a total of 8 training positions per year (an increase of 2). The request is warranted by (1) our excellent training outcomes where students graduate within 5.5 years with an average of 2 first author publication, 44% obtain independent training research grants and 95% of PiN graduates continue in research- intensive/science-related careers; (2) our highly qualified training grant eligible and underrepresented group applicant pool and (3) the unprecedented growth of neuroscience research at UMB that includes a marked increase in the number neuroscience faculty. Modern neuroscience is evolving and growing at an unparalleled pace especially in technological and analytic advances. Thus, our objective is to train excellent scientists who, in addition to having the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to the rapidly growing and technologically evolving field of neuroscience research, will also have the confidence to be leaders in the field. To this end, the foundation of graduate training in PiN has been built upon four critical components: (i) a strong foundation in core neuroscience concepts (ii) emphasis on critical thinking skills, (iii) a deep understanding of experimental design, quantitative analysis and hypothesis testing and (iv) mentored career development. These four components are interwoven into all stages of the program?s training plan and continue to serve as the keystone to excellence in training. In the present renewal, we have continue to evolve our training program to incorporate (1) innovated teaching of experimental design, quantitative analysis and hypothesis testing through neuroscience centric problem-based learning and neuromodeling opportunities; (2) novel course designs such as the ?Nano Courses?; (3) mentored laboratory rotations that require oral research presentations and (4) enhanced career development skills through mentoring and the established Office of Career Development. The stable funding of the faculty and the success of our students speaks to the strength of our graduate training efforts and that continued funding for our program is well justified. With continued support, the faculty and students in PiN can continue to spearhead the effort of multidisciplinary neuroscience at UMB.