{"id":109949,"date":"2024-04-03T13:02:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=109949"},"modified":"2024-04-03T14:58:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:58:16","slug":"mmi-named-a-site-in-multicenter-nih-research-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/04\/03\/mmi-named-a-site-in-multicenter-nih-research-project\/","title":{"rendered":"MMI a site in multicenter NIH research project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The University of Nebraska Medical Center\u2019s Munroe-Meyer Institute will participate in a five-year, $8.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Vanderbilt Alcohol Research and Education Center (VAREC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal of VAREC is to perform research studies that translate findings from animal models into human studies and that uses findings from human studies to guide new research directions in animal models. The center will support collaborative efforts by researchers at Vanderbilt and across the country to help better understand and treat alcohol use disorder (AUD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Blackford, PhD, MMI\u2019s director of research, will serve as the associate director of VAREC and will lead one of four research projects tied to the grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Blackford\u2019s MMI-based project will investigate brain changes and symptoms in people in the early stages of recovery from an AUD. Heightened anxiety and depression are common in early recovery; however, Dr. Blackford\u2019s research has shown that not everyone experiences these symptoms, which are thought to be triggers for relapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Blackford\u2019s project will provide an in-depth study of people in the first month of recovery from an AUD, including two brain scans and repeated symptom measures. Her goal is to identify the brain networks that predict anxiety and depression symptoms during early recovery from an AUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new center grant was inspired by cross-species translational work that Dr. Blackford has been conducting with Danny Winder, PhD, director of VAREC and chair of the department of neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School for more than five years, Dr. Blackford said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is challenging to perform research which rapidly translates findings between rodents and humans, and this large center grant will provide us with exactly that opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cThe center grant includes three rodent projects, which all connect conceptually with my human project.\u00a0We hope that this will serve as a model for other researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The center includes a dissemination core that will focus on education and outreach by translating complex scientific findings into accessible information for the public. Plans include podcasts, webinars and a near-peer mentoring program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The center also includes a research methods core that will establish a course and provide scholarships for researchers across the country to learn innovative neuroscience technologies at Vanderbilt. A summer student program will provide stipends for students from underrepresented communities to work in addiction labs at Vanderbilt, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and UNMC.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Blackford, PhD, will lead one of four research projects tied to the grant to the Vanderbilt Alcohol Research and Education Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":104410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"66120,40670,37515,60607,78211,72468","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","author_override-kelsey-kirk-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nMMI a 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