Jeanne Marsh Stahl, Ph.D. - US grants

The purpose of the Morris Brown College Research Program is: (1) to encourage faculty in the natural and social sciences, mathematics, nursing, psychology, and recreational therapy programs to pursue basic research in the areas alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health (ADM); (2) to strengthen the research environment that supports research in these areas; and (3) to provide research participation experience for undergraduate students which will encourage them to pursue post-graduate studies and research in alcohol, drug abuse, or mental health fields. Founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, Morris Brown College is one of seven historically black colleges in the Atlanta University Center consortium. It is a private nonprofit coeducational 4-year college with over 1,800 students majoring in 35 fields of study including ten ADM- related fields. Ten faculty members have indicated an interest in carrying out research in the ADM research areas. Three of these faculty have submitted full proposals and four faculty have submitted concept papers and plan to develop more complete projects in the future. The Research Support Program proposes to support faculty research development through several activities. A Research Support Advisory Committee will be created to advise the e President for Academic Affairs of the needs and concerns of the research faculty at the college. A Faculty Small Grants Program will accept small grant applications from faculty, review them for potential scientific merit (or send them out for review) and fund pilot studies necessary prior to seeking funding from government agencies, foundations, or industry. Other support will include providing computerized literature searches, site software licenses for the Science and Mathematics Local Area Network so faculty can share research-related software, provide close grantsmanship mentoring by senior scientists and experienced writers, support travel to scientific workshops to assist faculty in keeping up with state-of-the-art research techniques, and initiate a Visiting Scientist Program so senior scientists may visit the campus for extended periods of time. An additional goal of the project is to involve undergraduate students in all aspects of research through assistantships.

There are five specific long-term aims for this research plan: (1) The first aim is to test an animal model for studying the effects of drugs on cognitive functioning. Maier's 3-table reasoning apparatus will be used for testing the ability of rats to integrate information learned in one chemical state with information learned in another chemical state to solve a spatial location problem for a food reward. Research has shown that the processes involved in solving this problem are different from those involved in most learning tasks which depend upon the association of contiguous events (Maier, 1932a; Stahl & Ellen, 1974). (2) The second aim is to establish the classes of drugs for which this phenomenon occurs. Both non-prescription drugs and controlled substances will be studied. It is hypothesized that state-dependent performance occurs for drugs such as caffeine and nicotine as well as for abused controlled substances such as morphine and methadone. (3) A third aim is to determine if state-dependent performance under one drug (such as morphine) can be blocked by another drug (such as naloxone) or whether the drug and blocker combination form what is essentially a third chemical state. (4) A fourth aim is to initiate several pilot studies to develop an operant conditioning research paradigm that includes some of the features that make the Maier 3-table problem unique. Subjects will receive a visual or an auditory cue and be required to identify the appropriate cue set, or perhaps a cue sequence, necessary for a food reward. (5) A fifth aim is to train minority undergraduate students in the research methods used in behavioral psychopharmacology to prepare them for graduate training in a mental health research field.

The purpose of the Morris Brown College Research Support Program grant application is to seek funds to continue our efforts to achieve the following goals: (1) to encourage faculty in the natural and social sciences, mathematics, nursing , and psychology programs to pursue basic research in the areas of alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health (ADM); (2) to strengthen the research environment that supports research in these areas; and (3) to provide research participation experiences for undergraduate students which will encourage them to pursue post-graduate studies and research in alcohol, drug abuse, or mental health fields. Founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, Morris Brown College is one of seven historically black collages in the Atlanta University Center consortium. It is a private nonprofit coeducational 4-year college with over 2,000 black students majoring in 35 fields of study including ten ADM-related fields. The Research Support Program proposes to continue supporting faculty research development through several activities. A Research Support Advisory Committee will be created to advise the Vice President for Academic Affairs of the needs and concerns of the research faculty at the college. Other support will include providing computerized literature searches, photocopying of research literature, provide close grantsmanship mentoring by senior scientists and experienced writers, support travel to scientific workshops to assist faculty in keeping up with state-of-the-art research techniques, and initiate a Visiting Scientist Program so senior scientists may visit the campus for extended periods of time. The work of the first two years of the previous grant resulted in this application which includes 5 proposals, 4 from faculty who are first-time proposal writers.

DESCRIPTION (Applicant?s Abstract): There is a serious shortage of minority researchers involved in drug abuse research. Building on the strengths of existing faculty in the Atlanta University Center?s consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and following Morris Brown College?s "Learning Tree" model of comprehensive education for pre-college, in-college, and post-baccalaureate students, a program has been designed to do the following: (1) to strengthen the infrastructure that supports research on these campuses; (2) to create a "cluster" of drug abuse researchers on campus and, thus, to broaden the base of scientific knowledge in the area of drug abuse research; (3) to further increase drug abuse research on the Atlanta University Center campuses by encouraging local graduate students to carry out drug abuse research dissertations on these campuses; (4) to involve faculty in research development activities that will strengthen their capability to carry out cutting edge research; and (5) to provide research participation experiences for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students that will encourage them to pursue post-graduate studies and careers in drug abuse research. To our existing cluster of animal research projects on drug tolerance and drug discrimination, we propose to add several human projects on drug abuse prevention and treatment. This will serve to "broaden the scientific knowledge base in those areas where minority institutions may have particular interest, knowledge, and commitment" and, we believe, will enhance the attractiveness of drug abuse research for our students and faculty. We feel that a community of faculty and student researchers on the Atlanta University Center campuses will serve to strengthen faculty research and inspire additional faculty, staff, and students to become involved in drug abuse research.

DESCRIPTION (Applicant?s Abstract): There is a serious shortage of minority researchers involved in drug abuse research. Building on the strengths of existing faculty in the Atlanta University Center?s consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and following Morris Brown College?s "Learning Tree" model of comprehensive education for pre-college, in-college, and post-baccalaureate students, a program has been designed to do the following: (1) to strengthen the infrastructure that supports research on these campuses; (2) to create a "cluster" of drug abuse researchers on campus and, thus, to broaden the base of scientific knowledge in the area of drug abuse research; (3) to further increase drug abuse research on the Atlanta University Center campuses by encouraging local graduate students to carry out drug abuse research dissertations on these campuses; (4) to involve faculty in research development activities that will strengthen their capability to carry out cutting edge research; and (5) to provide research participation experiences for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students that will encourage them to pursue post-graduate studies and careers in drug abuse research. To our existing cluster of animal research projects on drug tolerance and drug discrimination, we propose to add several human projects on drug abuse prevention and treatment. This will serve to "broaden the scientific knowledge base in those areas where minority institutions may have particular interest, knowledge, and commitment" and, we believe, will enhance the attractiveness of drug abuse research for our students and faculty. We feel that a community of faculty and student researchers on the Atlanta University Center campuses will serve to strengthen faculty research and inspire additional faculty, staff, and students to become involved in drug abuse research.