Center for Comparative Biology of Vulnerable Populations

弱势群体比较生物学中心

• 批准号: 6704015
• 负责人: David A Schwartz
• 金额: $ 73.15万
• 依托单位: DUKE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-05-03 至 2008-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6704015
• 关键词: clinical research; environmental exposure; environmental toxicology; gene environment interaction; interdisciplinary collaboration

Despite the tremendous inter-individual variability in the response to environmental toxins, we simply do not understand why certain people develop disease when challenged with environmental agents and others remain healthy. Although an emerging consensus suggests that many of the complex and prevalent diseases that humans develop occur as a result of multiple biologically unique gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, this conceptual framework is limited. Environmental exposures affect those that are vulnerable temporally (age), spatially (geographically), and by unique circumstance (co-morbid disease, nutritional status, economic status, race, and genetics). Even this paradigm fails to address the complex interaction of endogenous and exogenous risks that ultimately cause disease. While the recent advances in human and molecular genetics provide an unparalleled opportunity to understand how genes interact with environmental stimuli to either preserve health or cause disease, without accounting for the temporal, spatial, and other unique components of an individual's microenvironment, our understanding of environmental health will remain incomplete. Thus, the theme of our proposed Center is to understand how biological, physiological, and social aspects of vulnerability alter the effect of environmental toxins on human health. Specific goals of the Center are: 1. To develop and operate an interdisciplinary environmental health sciences research center with a focus on understanding how biological, physiological, and social aspects of vulnerability alter the effect of environmental toxins on human health; 2. To enhance research in environmental health at Duke by promoting research interactions between existing interdisciplinary programs in environmental health, fostering the development of new research loci in environmental health, and establishing an infrastructure to support and extend research in environmental health; 3. To identify new and creative policy approaches that combine advanced understanding of environmental health sciences with the reality of policy application; and 4. To serve as a technical and educational resource to the region, the nation, and to international agencies in the area of environmental health.

尽管对环境毒素的反应有很大的个体间差异，但我们根本不明白为什么某些人在受环境药物和其他人的挑战时会发展疾病。尽管出现的共识表明，人类出现的许多复杂和普遍的疾病是由于 多种生物学独特的基因基因和基因环境相互作用，这个概念框架是有限的。 环境暴露会影响那些在时间上（年龄），空间（地理上）和独特情况（合并疾病，营养状况，经济状况，种族和遗传学）的脆弱性。即使是这种范式也无法解决最终导致疾病的内源性和外源性风险的复杂相互作用。最近 人类和分子遗传学的进步提供了一个无与伦比的机会，可以理解基因如何与环境刺激相互作用以保持健康或导致疾病，而无需考虑到个人微环境的时间，空间和其他独特组成部分，我们对环境健康的理解将不完整。因此，我们提议的中心的主题是了解生物，生理和社会 脆弱性的各个方面改变了环境毒素对人类健康的影响。该中心的具体目标是： 1。开发和运营一个跨学科的环境健康科学研究中心，重点是了解脆弱性的生物，生理和社会方面如何改变环境毒素对人类健康的影响； 2。通过促进环境健康中现有跨学科计划之间的研究互动，促进环境健康研究基因座的发展，并建立基础设施来支持和扩展环境健康研究的基础设施； 3。确定将环境健康科学与政策应用现实相结合的新的和创造性的政策方法；和 4。作为环境健康领域的该地区，国家和国际机构的技术和教育资源。