Ian Gizer, Ph.D. - US grants

The genetic influences that contribute to psychiatric disorders are most often complex, and are the result of interactions between several genes of small effect. Thus, it is necessary to develop phenotypic data that is as closely related to the action of the gene as is possible in order to detect their effect. Biological markers hypothesized to represent genetic liability to a given disorder, termed "endophenotypes", may provide phenotypic data useful in identifying such genes. Performance on sustained attention and executive functions measures, thought to depend heavily on neural circuits involving the prefrontal cortex, might represent an endophenotype for ADHD given that children diagnosed with this disorder often show deficits on such measures. The purpose of the current proposal is to begin developing a research program for evaluating sustained attention and executive functions measures as endophenotypes for ADHD. This research program will focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of these measures (reliability, internal validity, and external validity), the extent to which performance on these measures is heritable using univariate and multivariate behavior genetic analyses, and the ability of these measures to replicate previously observed evidence of association and linkage between ADHD and selected candidate genes.

This application proposes to continue, refine, and disseminate a nine week summer research program in alcohol and addiction research. The program, the ?MU Alcohol Research Training Summer School? (MU- ARTSS) at the University of Missouri, is targeted at undergraduate students with the goal of preparing trainees for graduate training in health-related scientific disciplines focusing on alcohol and addiction research. The program recruit seven students annually, drawn from a national pool of applicants, and with a major emphasis on recruiting students from under-represented groups in STEM and biomedical disciplines (i.e., ethnic and racial minority, economically disadvantaged, and first-generation college students). The MU-ARTSS program consists of a one-week intensive set of didactic lectures on alcohol research. Didactic topics include: introduction to and overview of addiction research, epidemiology, genetics, neuropharmacology, neurophysiology, individual differences, assessment and treatment, responsible conduct of research, and human subjects issues. In addition, trainees will attend laboratory demonstrations of addiction-relevant research protocols, including mobile and ambulatory assessment, structural and functional neuroimaging, and laboratory administration of alcohol to human subjects. Following this week of didactics, students will complete an eight-week internship in the lab of a mentor conducting alcohol research. Through the internship period, MU-ARTSS trainees will attend a weekly seminar series covering specific research skills and professional development issues. A weekly ?movie night? will be hosted by the program Co-Director, and will showcase notable films about alcohol spanning more than 80 years of film history, allowing for less-formal discussion and exploration of clinical phenomena related to alcohol and addiction, and the role and portrayal of alcohol in society. The MU-ARTSS program will be supplemented by additional training programs and experiences offered by the MU-Summer Research Internship Program (MU-SRIP). Partnering with MU-SRIP affords our trainees an opportunity to interact with research faculty and students across multiple scientific disciplines and in multiple venues including a Professional Development series, further instruction in the responsible conduct of research, a lecture series, and a formal end-of-the-program poster session. The program draws on the large number of active alcohol research programs in MU?s Department of Psychological Sciences. The focus of MU- ARTSS on undergraduate education also provides an important complement to the alcohol training emphasis at the graduate and postdoctoral levels (currently supported, in part, by a T32 to Co-Director Sher). To date, 12 MU-ARTSS interns have completed their undergraduate degrees, and of these, 7 are enrolled in Ph.D. programs, 1 in an M.D. program, and 2 in Master's programs, all in STEM fields. Based on these initial successes, the current proposal aims to continue refining MU-ARTSS recruitment and curriculum activities, and importantly, begin disseminating materials and outcome data produced by the program.