NCDC Mission Statement
The long-term mission of the NCDC is the development of an integrated neural model for understanding the long-term control of cardiovascular function in health and disease.
NCDC Strategic Approach
Despite the rapid growth of neuroscience over the last 30 years, an integrated model of long-term regulation of arterial pressure (and other physiological variables) by the brain and autonomic nervous system does not exist. We believe that many of the current controversies and roadblocks in our collective understanding of hypertension and other neurogenic disorders is the result of subtle, but significant, differences in experimental approaches and methods used in the various laboratories that study neurogenic control of the circulation. Misunderstandings resulting from these differences prevent formulation of a sophisticated and quantitative unifying theory.
Our strategy is to conduct parallel investigations of a single animal model of human hypertension. These investigations are performed at all levels of regulation: genomic, molecular, cellular, neural network and whole animal. By implementing strict control of experimental conditions in and between laboratories, we will generate an integrated database to be used in the development of a new quantitative model. Studies in our animal model will be conducted in parallel with investigations in human subjects.This approach will lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of neurogenic hypertension, and the development of novel therapies for cardiovascular disease.
