The Center for Molecular Integrative Neuroresilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)-funded Center for Advancing Research on Botanical and Other Natural Products (CARBON) program. The Center collaborates with the Friedman Brain Institute, and the Departments of Genetics and Genomics Sciences, Neurology, and Psychiatry at Mount Sinai, to understand the mechanism of action of the role of certain botanical dietary supplements, in particular polyphenols, have against stressful events and to clarify the role of the gut microbiome at the genomic level in the promotion of cognitive and psychological resilience.
The principal objective of our Center Grant, “Dietary Botanical Supplements on Biological and Behavioral Resilience”, is to provide valuable insight about the role of certain dietary polyphenols in mechanisms associated to stress induced psychological impairment in pre-clinical and clinical models. The purpose of the preclinical studies is to characterize immune inflammatory pathways elicited by stress in models of unpredictable stress, whereas the clinical studies will conduct pharmacokinetic and steady-state profile studies to define bioavailable metabolites from dietary polyphenols in individuals. Moreover, the study aims to confirm the presence of specific metabolites that exert anti-inflammatory cascades in both experimental and human models. The Clinical studies will use a multivariate adaptive regression spline model to identify specific dietary polyphenol metabolites or combinations of metabolites responsible for modulating inflammatory cytokines. Lastly, the Clinical studies will validate pro-inflammatory cytokines found in plasma as a marker of biological resilience in response to dietary polyphenols against their upregulation of cytokine levels in plasma in response to the Trier Social Stress Test in humans.
The center is supported by the NIH/NCCIH, which originally funded years 2015-2020 and has been renewed for the period 2020-2025.
Areas of Research
Multidisciplinary joint efforts cover three areas of research: preservation of psychological resilience under chronic stress; promotion of resilience against cognitive decline induced by sleep deprivation; and the role of the gut microbiome in promotion of cognitive and psychological resilience. Learn more about our areas of research
Supporting Cores
Three cores help ensure success of the Center’s research projects through administrative oversight; education and training; bioactivity and mechanistic studies; behavioral phenotyping; and electrophysiological support. Learn more about our supporting cores
Opportunities
The Center organizes educational opportunities and funds pilot projects and grants in the field of molecular integrative neuroresilience. Learn more about education and research opportunities at the Center
Researchers
Faculty with expertise in neurology, neuroscience, critical care and sleep medicine, clinical immunology, genetics and genomics, and pharmacology and systems therapeutics from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai work with faculty from Rutgers University and the University of North Texas to conduct the Center’s research. Learn more about our researchers