The Environment-Gene Interface in Urologic Health and Disease

Boston Children'S Hospital, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This R13 proposal requests funds to support up to 30 travel awards of $500 each to the most promising trainee investigators (graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, residents and physician-scientist trainees) and to increase representation of underserved minorities of this status to attend and participate in the 2015 Fall Symposium of the Society for Basic Urologic Research (SBUR) to be held November 12th - 15th in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The SBUR is a society of basic and clinician-scientists specializing in research on normal growth and development, as well as pathological conditions of the genitourinary (GU) tract. Recent analyses conducted by the Urologic Diseases in America initiative indicates that conditions affecting the urinary tract represent a major healthcare burden in the US, with associated healthcare costs on the order of tens of billions of dollars annually. Given this burden, there is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms underlying these diseases, develop strategies for prevention or intervention, and identify better treatments to improve quality of life for affected individuals The theme of the 2015 Fall Symposium is The Environment-Gene Interface in Urologic Health and Disease. The specific aims of the Symposium are to: (i) Inspire young and established investigators to apply current knowledge in the field to advance the frontiers of basic and translational urologic research; (ii) Promote and advance the careers of new investigators in the field of urologic research; (iii) Provide a forum for networking, interaction, and establishing new collaborations between investigators focused in GU development and disease and those from other disciplines; (iv) Encourage creative thought on new approaches to study human GU development and disease that might lead to prevention or better therapeutics that reduce the health costs associated with these diseases and (v) Provide a forum for the dissemination of up-to-date scientific results pertaining to ongoing basic and clinical research on the common diseases of the human GU tract that are a source of extraordinary health costs in the United States and around the world. Research topics that will be covered during the Symposium include: 1) Nutritional aspects of urologic disease; 2) Metabolism, metabolic syndrome and the urinary tract; 3) Environmental disruptors and urologic disease; 4) Sex, race and ethnicity: impact on urologic disease; 5) Inflammation, infection and immunity in urology. Selection of travel awardees will proceed through a defined, rigorous process in which applicants are ranked by the Abstract Review Subcommittee based on the quality of submitted abstracts to identify the most promising trainees. The Executive Committee of the SBUR oversees selection of award recipients to ensure equitable representation of both genders and underserved minorities. If funded, this project will contribute to the educational objectives of the Symposium by promoting the participation of exceptional graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, residents and physician-scientist trainees, and enhance participation in urologic disease research by underrepresented minority trainees.