Integrating Biological Markers into Clinical Research

University Of Connecticut Sch Of Med/Dnt, Farmington CT

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised K24 Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (POR) is the next logical step in my career at The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine (SOM). The K24 will help me enhance my mentoring of early-career MD investigators in POR and advance my mentoring and research skills in areas that address the NIMH Strategic Plan priorities for translational research. Specifically, in light f recent advances in the biology of pediatric anxiety (March, 2011), important questions have been raised about the role of biomarkers in predicting treatment outcomes. The training of mid-career intervention researchers in methods that enable them to integrate biological markers into clinical trials is thus critical and timely. Broadening my research skills in this area will enableme to make a significant contribution to the field of child anxiety and it will enhance my ability to effectively mentor junior clinician-investigators with MDs who focus on the biological bases of illness and pharmacological interventions. In this K24 application, I propose to take relevant courses (e.g., psychopharmacology, behavioral endocrinology), complete hands on lab work, and conduct novel research in this area. The specific aims of this K24 application are to: 1) recruit and mentor junior investigators, particularly MDs, in POR; 2) enhance my mentoring and research skills in psychopharmacology and biomarkers of anxiety; and 3) apply these skills in an innovative line of research examining whether levels of salivary cortisol and alpha amylase and/or their interaction: a) differentiate treatment responders, non-responders, and healthy controls (N = 180), and b) prospectively predict remission or relapse of disorder. The study makes efficient use of NIMH funds and resources by proposing an add on study to the PIs NIMH-funded R01 entitled Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multi-modal Extended Long-term Study (CAMELS, Ginsburg, PI), which is a five year prospective follow-up study of anxious youth initially randomized in the Child/ Adolescent Anxiety Multi-modal Study (CAMS).