Antonio Cepeda-Benito - US grants

These experiments have three main goals. The first goal is to comprehensively test whether variables known to have a regulatory effect in the development and expression of associative and nonassociative tolerance to morphine's analgesic effects also are operative in the control of associative and nonassociative tolerance to nicotine's analgesic effects. The second goal is to study how differential genetic sensitivity to nicotine's effects influences the development of associative and nonassociative tolerance. The third goal is to investigate the role of nicotine-induced corticosterone release in the development of associative and nonassociative tolerance phenomena. This third question will be investigated in parallel with the first two goals. Five experiments will (1) evaluate the effect of number of conditioning trials in the development of associative tolerance to nicotine's analgesic effects, (2) examines the modulating effects of interdose interval (IDI) in the development and magnitude of associative and nonassociative nicotine tolerance, (3) establish the extent to which associative and nonassociative nicotine tolerance effects are retained in the presence versus the absence of extinction procedures, (4) attempt to obtain a nicotine dose-dependent analgesic response in rat strains that are hypothesized to be differentially sensitive to nicotine, and (5) investigate the development of tolerance to nicotine's analgesic effects across rat strains that are differentially sensitive to nicotine. Experiment 1 will include independent groups of rats to study corticosterone changes as a function of exposure to the experimental manipulations. Corticosterone measures will examine how corticosterone fluctuates as a function of nicotine delivery in the presence and absence of drug predictive cues, and as a function of a placebo challenge in the presence of drug predictive cues. If these corticosterone analyses produce meaningful results, Experiments 2, 3, and 5 will also include concurrent measurement of corticosterone levels and analgesic responses. Experiment 5 will be conducted only if Experiment 4 yields the expected results. The present application does not request funding for the corticosterone measurements and Experiment 5; funding for these elements of the investigation will be sought through a competing supplemental application.

The mission of the Texas A&M University ADVANCE IT project is to double the percentage of tenured women faculty in STEM disciplines in the next five years and increase the number and diversity of women STEM faculty at all levels at the institution. To this end, the project will organize activities related to gender equity around three major themes that include climate change activities, success enhancement activities and recruitment and retention activities. Collectively, these activities will be implemented with significant input from campus leaders who have formed a strategic collaboration that bridges engineering, science and social science disciplines and builds on previous ADVANCE accomplishments at other institutions.

Intellectual Merit. The Texas A&M ADVANCE IT proposal is based on the psychologically healthy workplace model, which was established by the American Psychological Association and is expected to improve recruitment, reduce attrition and promote the success of STEM women faculty.

Broader Impact. As a result of the proposed collaborative activity between this project and that at Prairie View A&M, the Texas A&M ADVANCE IT project has the potential to broadly impact women faculty in the STEM disciplines beyond its own campus to other campuses within the same system. Additionally, this project also focuses on raising awareness of implicit bias with students and staff at the institution. In doing so, this project will serve to impact new audiences that have been underserved by the ADVANCE community.