This application is in response to RFA-OD-09-005, title 'Recovery act limited competition: Supporting new faculty recruitment to enhance research resources through biomedical research core centers (P30). The Neurobiology of Addiction research Center (NARC) unites an assemblage of investigators with expertise in behavior, neurochemistry, electrophysiology, cell biology, neuroimaging and clinical trials. It is proposed to recruit a tenure-track Assistant Professor into the NARC with a primary faculty appointment in the Department of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. The applicant, Dr. Peter Kalivas, is both director of the NARC and chair of the department of Neurosciences. Although the NARC is administered through the Department of Neurosciences, the 14 primary tenure-track faculty are in both departments of Neurosciences and Psychiatry. The proposed recruit, Dr. Arthur Riegel, is an accomplished neurophysiologist currently funded by a KOI award from NIDA in a position of non-tenure track Assistant Professor in the department of Neurosciences. The NARC presently lacks or has minimal research capacity in two areas of Dr. Riegel's expertise, whole cell patch membrane physiology and live cell multiphoton imaging and recording. In particular, the latter expertise is entirely lacking from the NARC portfolio. Thus, Dr. Riegel's recruitment will establish a facility to conduct live cell imaging that can be shared in part with other members of the NARC. Dr. Riegel will conduct research into the enduring neuroadaptations produced in the regulation of ion channels in dopamine neurons by metabotropic glutamate receptors and corticotropin releasing factor in rats trained to self-administer cocaine. The animals will be derived largely from the animal core maintained by the NARC that trains animals to self-administer cocaine and heroin. The department of Neurosciences guarantees that if appointed, Dr. Riegel will retain his appointment, base salary and laboratory space for a minimum of 5 years, including the 2 years of the proposed P30 funding.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter