Career Enhancement Core

(1) Intensive mentored research experiences designed to prepare outstanding early career faculty to become independent investigators in research on sex and gender differences as well as sex as a biological variable as it relates to stress in human health and disease.

(2) Didactic material in responsible conduct of research, transparent research design, biostatistics and statistical analysis, research methods, and translational research skills related sex and gender differences in order to provide a strong, comprehensive base of relevant knowledge and skills.

(3) Regularly scheduled seminars and journal clubs to promote information exchange and interdisciplinary interaction in the context of current findings and new implications.

(4) Ongoing activities providing continuing review and consultation in critical areas such as biostatistical consultation, Responsible Conduct of Research and Good Clinical Practice, Rigor and Reproducibility, Human Subjects protection and privacy issues, and grant writing skills in order to ensure continuous learning, sound judgment and awareness of changing dynamics in scientific research.

(5) Additional opportunities to participate in thematic or topical exchanges with other interdisciplinary research groups at MUSC pertinent to the SCORE Scholars’ research in order to present their ideas and data, extend their interdisciplinary perspective on research, and expand networking opportunities for future collaborations.

(6) A comprehensive evaluation plan for reviewing and evaluating Scholar progress and program effectiveness in order to continuously improve our ability to provide outstanding mentoring to CEC Scholars.

(1) Knowledge and skills to conduct research focused on sex and gender differences

(2) Scientific knowledge and professional development

(3) Fundamental research skills

(4) Dissemination and presentation of research findings

(5) Scientific writing

Understanding the role of stress, sleep and pain on peripartum cannabis use 

Marie Hayes, Ph.D.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance among pregnant and postpartum women and use is associated with negative outcomes for parent and baby. Roughly three quarters of women who achieve abstinence from cannabis during pregnancy relapse in the postpartum period. Despite high rates of relapse and negative health outcomes, no intervention exists to support postpartum women to abstain from cannabis use during a time marked by increased stress, pain, and sleep disturbance all of which are associated with cannabis use in non-perinatal populations. This study will collect qualitative data from patients and obstetric providers to inform intervention development to support women to maintain abstinence from cannabis use throughout the postpartum period.

Sex differences in the effects of early childhood adversity in laboratory-induced stress and craving among individuals with Opioid Use Disorder- Delisa Brown, Ph.D.: Stress has been shown to play an important role in substance use initiation, maintenance, and relapse.  Psychosocial stressors such as early life stress have been linked to the initiation of substance use and the development of substance use disorders, although little research in this area has focused on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Early childhood adversity (ECA), as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale, may negatively impact neurobiological sensitivity to stress, impair the ability to manage negative emotions, and increase vulnerability to the development of substance use disorders. Several studies show an association between ECA and OUD, but the impact of ECA may be different for men and women. To date, no studies have investigated the relationship between ECA and response to stress and drug cues among individuals with OUD, and sex differences in this area remain poorly understood. This project directly addressed this knowledge gap by investigating sex differences in subjective, physiological and neuroendocrine responses to personalized imagery scripts (stress, opioid, neutral cues) among individuals with OUD.

Sex-associated difference in mitochondrial stress response following traumatic brain injury- Onder Albayram, Ph.D.: The overarching goal of this project  was to elucidate the different cellular and molecular mechanisms of the endogenous neuroprotective effects of mitochondrial stress response and mitophagy in the male and female brain following brain injury. This hypothesis was tested by pursuing two specific aims. In Aim 1, the sex-specific effects of p17-mediated mitochondrial stress response in the development and progression of pathological processes  and long-term neurobehavioral sequelae after TBI was elucidated. In Aim 2, how sexual dimorphism in p17-mediatedmitochondrial stress response may contribute to disease pathogenesis and mitochondrial adaptation following TBI was elucidated. These aims allowed for exploration of the biological significance of sex-associated differences in mitochondrial stress response and mitophagy on pathophysiology of brain injury.

Maternal substance use and intergenerational transmission of stress response: neural emotion processing and mother-child interactions- Kathleen Crum, Ph.D.: This project explored associations between maternal substance abuse and PTSD, maternal neural emotion and reward processing, and child neural emotion and reward processing. Functional neuroimaging data collected during emotion- and reward-response tasks was incorporated with behavioral data collected during a task assessing observed mother-child interaction quality. The project used a novel method combining neural and behavioral data from mothers and children and contributed to research on the impact of traumatic stress across generations on a neurobiological and behavioral level.

Integrated early intervention for substance use and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among women following sexual assault- Christine Hahn, Ph.D.: Despite substantial empirical support that sexual assault is common and increases risk for substance use disorders (SUDs) and co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there is a lack of efficacious early interventions to reduce these co-occurring conditions following assault. This project directly addressed this gap by developing and evaluating a theory-driven, integrated early intervention for recent sexual assault victims to reduce SUD and PTSD symptoms. 

Applications are not currently being accepted.  Please contact Amanda Wagner with any questions regarding the application process.