THE OLD WESTBURY NEUROSCIENCE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted From Application): This application is for renewal of a 7-year-old program called the Old Westbury Neuroscience International Program, or OWNIP. The program will be directed by Dr. George B. Stefano. The purpose of OWNIP is twofold: to increase the neuroscience potential of SUNY/College of Old Westbury and its principal investigators and to encourage minority science majors to become aware of and interested in biomedical research careers. These goals will be achieved by working with international scientists who share joint research interests. This collaboration will give students a global perspective regarding science and cultures while simultaneously enriching their academic experience. The College at Old Westbury has faculty that are interested in neuroscience in general and neuroimmunology in particular. It has a multiethnic faculty and a high percentage of minority students who choose science as a major. The faculty have special interests in molecular and cellular neuroimmunology related to National Institute of Drug Abuse and National Institute of Mental Health interests. The OWNIP activities will include international travel for both faculty and students, international visits by foreign scientists and experience in foreign laboratories. Each year, 10 undergraduates will spend 10 weeks at the foreign sites. There are four foreign sites, one each in Italy and France, and two in China. The Italian site in at the University of Modena, in the Neurobiology Section of the Department of Animal Biology, under the direction of Dr. Dario Sonetti. Two of the OWNIP faculty have visited and lectured at this University. Further, Dr. Stefano has an ongoing collaborative research project there, and at least one former MIRT student (Federico Casares) has participated in this joint research project. The research at this site focuses on morphine as an endogenous neuro- and immune-active signal molecule. The French site is at the University of Lille, with Dr. M. Salzet, whose research focuses on comparison of sequences of neuropeptides isolated from vertebrates and invertebrates, with special interest currently on the renin-angiotensin system. The first site in China is at the Beijing Medical College, under Dr. Shao Guang Fan in the Department of Physiology, which he chairs. His research interests focus on the effects of opioid peptides on rejection on organ transplantation, i.e. opiate and transplantation immunity. The second Chinese site is at the Institute Medica of the Shanghai Research Institute, under Dr. Xiao-Yu Li. Dr. Stefano has visited this facility, and found it to be modern and well equipped. The research focus here is in the field of opioid immune regulation.