Summary
The goal of this proposal is to establish a Center of Research Excellence
in Developmental Endocrinology and Neuroendocrineology (CDNE) focused
on hormone action and its interactive networks. Through this Center we
expect to increase the number of R01 funded researchers at the University
of New Hampshire (UNH) and at Dartmouth Medical School (DMS), strengthen
the program at both UNH and DMS by the national recruitment of new
faculty in this area, and ultimately to improve health care services
to the state of New Hampshire. An active mentoring mission aimed
at nurturing young investigators will be a central concern of the
Center. The CDNE will combine and build on the current strengths
of UNH in Comparative Endocrine Research and of DMS in Mammalian
Research and Health Care Delivery to discover new drugs and to develop
new and innovative treatments. We have coined the name, 'Endocrinomics',
for aspects of endocrinology that include the interactive networks
controlled by hormones and the subsequent cellular consequences of
hormone action. The CDNE will synergize with the efforts of scientists
at NH Biomedical Center for Structural Biology, and Hubbard Center
for Genome Studies located at UNH, with those of the Endocrine Research
Training Program, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Neuroscience Center
located at DMS. This firm platform will form the basis for establishing
a freestanding, internationally recognized Center in five years as
determined by various measures of success including, as examples,
increased cutting-edge research productivity, and the hosting of
world-class symposia. Such a Center will greatly strengthen the ability
of UNH to compete for research funding, and be well positioned to
enhance the medical care and outreach currently provided to New Hampshire.
This application has four diverse, yet unified, projects in the field
of "endocrinomics" that were chosen on the basis of their relevance
to health, the quality of the junior investigators, and the qualifications
of the mentors who will guide these investigators.