# Diversity Supplement to DP2AT011965

> **NIH NIH DP2** · MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER · 2022 · $86,161

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Our modern food environment, with its widespread availability of energy-dense, palatable foods and associated
cues, is thought to interact with our physiology to promote food intake. This has contributed to the drastic increase
in obesity in the United States over the past several decades. However, most pharmacological weight loss
strategies target satiation pathways, not sensory pathways, and therefore may be less effective at eliminating
effects of environmental/sensory cues on food intake. Here we propose to take a novel approach to
understanding the drive to eat by examining the neural integration of sensory and nutritive food signals. First,
we will create sensory “engrams” – functional maps of neurons activated by discrete sensory stimuli – and
determine how activating or inhibiting these circuits can influence food preference. Next, we will monitor calcium
dynamics in individual neurons to reveal the activity patterns that integrate sensory and nutritive information in
the brain across different body weights. These studies will reveal fundamental principles of how food information
is integrated in the brain to drive feeding behavior, revealing new targets for the development of obesity
therapeutics. This application seeks funds to enable Ms. Alexandra Vargas, a first-generation, low income, Latinx
U.S. citizen to perform research on the neural underpinnings of feeding behavior, add multiple complementary
neuroscience techniques to her technical repertoire, develop receive writing, presentation, and networking skills
that will make her competitive for M.D./Ph.D. programs in neuroscience. These funds will facilitate Ms. Vargas’
transition to a Pre-Doctoral Trainee so that she can receive advanced training and take a leadership role on an
NIH-funded project. To this end, we have carefully crafted a training plan that will facilitate Ms. Vargas’ technical,
intellectual, and career development, and funding of this supplement will transition her to this independent role
that will prepare her for the rigors of an M.D./Ph.D. program in Fall 2023. Overall, this funding will facilitate the
career of Ms. Vargas, an extremely impressive and talented rising scientist, giving her the opportunity to make
major advances in the fields of neuroscience and obesity while increasing diversity in NIH health-related
research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10499680
- **Project number:** 3DP2AT011965-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Amber L Alhadeff
- **Activity code:** DP2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $86,161
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10499680

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10499680, Diversity Supplement to DP2AT011965 (3DP2AT011965-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10499680. Licensed CC0.

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