Learning, Memory, and Plasticity (LaMP) Training Program

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Project Summary/Abstract. This is a new application to support advanced predoctoral training in Learning, Memory, and Plasticity (LaMP) at UC Davis. LaMP research at UC Davis is both broad and deep, spanning 4 schools and colleges and all of the major levels of research—cognitive, systems, cellular/molecular, and disease. The 31 Trainers are highly collaborative and value interdisciplinary approaches to their research. We have designed an innovative Program to train the next generation of neuroscientists to bridge the gaps between the major levels of LaMP research—cognitive, systems, cellular/molecular—in order to promote our understanding of LaMP disorders and reduce their tremendous burden on families, society, and public health. Our program proposes to support 6 advanced predoctoral Trainees per year, a size essential for creating a group that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries, spans levels of analysis, and addresses both basic and translational research. Trainees from 6 participating graduate groups will be eligible to apply to the LaMP Training Program in Year 2 (and Year 3, under exceptional circumstances) of their graduate training. The proposed 2-year Training Program has 6 components. (1) Trainees will conduct research in at least one of the LaMP faculty labs and will be co-mentored by another trainer from a distinct area of LaMP research. (2) Trainees will be exposed to the essential and emerging concepts in each of the fields of LaMP through a 2-quarter core course consisting of interactive lectures as well as lab-based immersion to give trainees the tools to understand the pros and cons of both the concepts and methods used at each level of analysis. (3) Trainees will also be exposed to LaMP disorders through a course consisting of didactic and interview/video sessions that span clinical, cognitive, systems and molecular aspects of each disease. (4) Trainees will receive targeted career development training through a meeting every other week with Program Trainers—emphasizing critical and cross-disciplinary thinking, presentation skills, formal discussion of research-related careers outside of academia, and pressing issues in the field such as data analysis, ethics, and rigor and reproducibility. (5) Trainees will receive extensive training in grant writing, followed by a mock study section prior to submission of their NRSA in the first quarter of their second year of funding. (6) Trainees will participate in an annual program retreat and attend an invited LaMP speaker series. Through these elements, this new Training Program will produce a new generation of scientists who truly think across levels and scales and who have the skills, drive, and motivation to work collaboratively to tackle the most important issues in learning, memory, and plasticity in order to improve human health.