NEUROSCIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM

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This is a new application requesting funds to support two years of broad predoctoral training in Neurosciences. The training Program emphasizes a multidisciplinary orientation, as is guided by the NINDS mission to foster work toward the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of nervous system disorders and the basic sciences fundamental to this purpose. The Program draws on a long tradition of close interactions between scientists with primary appointments in basic and clinical departments, and their availability to instruct students, both formally and by example, in the interplay between basic and clinical research. Mentors include 30 extramurally-funded neuroscientists with research interests focused on biophysical and pharmacological properties of ion channels; synaptic proteins and signaling molecules in normal, developmental, and pathological states; cardiovascular and autonomic regulation; visceral pain mechanisms; neuromuscular diseases; cortical and subcortical organization at a cellular and systems level; neurobiology of autism, depression, and schizophrenia; diagnosis and treatment of the dementias; and the neuropsychology and anatomy of higher cognitive processes (perception, memory, language, emotion, and decision making). A larger faculty pool participates in teaching, committee work, and other activities of the Neuroscience Program, and can serve as co-mentors for students. The Neuroscience Training Program emphasizes that students gain experience in a range of subdisciplines, to allow them to function effectively in a rapidly evolving multidisciplinary academic environment. Students take a combination of coursework and laboratory rotations, organized within the structure of five subdivisions (cellular, developmental, molecular, systems, and behavioral neuroscience). The structure also serves as the basis for a thematically integrated seminar series and journal clubs. There is a two-part written and oral Comprehensive exam at the end of the second year, with subsequent years devoted primarily to thesis research. Stipends from the present application are meant to support students in their first and/or second year, prior to their commitment to a specific research direction.