Texas Consortium Program in Behavioral Neuroscience

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DESCRIPTION (PROVIDED BY APPLICANT): This is a proposal for a regional training grant to support ten predoctoral and five postdoctoral trainees who will be broadly and intensively trained to conduct interdisciplinary research in behavioral neuroscience. The goal is to increase the number of behavioral neuroscientists from underrepresented populations who will be trained to undertake high quality research relevant to the missions of NIMH, NIDA and NINDS. The program direction benefits from Hispanic and African American leaders with demonstrated knowledge of successful Neuroscience training programs for minorities. The faculty comprises 24 NIH-funded PI?s selected from a consortium of five Texas universities: University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas A&M University, and Texas A&M University System Health Science Center. These institutions were selected to complement their strengths to achieve the program goal. The training faculty already collaborates in behavioral neuroscience research, participates in active pre- and postdoctoral neuroscience programs, and is committed to increasing diversity .The program plan is based on the broad experience of the faculty with underrepresented predoctoral and postdoctoral students as part of both national and institutional NIH-funded training programs. The proposed training will span the breadth of state-of-the-art approaches to behavioral brain research, including brain metabolic mapping of behavioral functions, neuropharmacology, electrophysiology and molecular neurobiology. Predoctoral trainees will be required to complete courses covering the brain and behavior, scientific ethics, experimental design and statistical analysis. Postdoctoral trainees will choose a project at the onset of their training. The training will emphasize professional development, including improvement of oral and written communication skills. The program proposes national and regional strategies to recruit predoctoral and postdoctoral minority students, and seeks to increase their success by providing successful minority faculty as role models, by offering proper support and enrichment activities, and by creating a responsive mentor-based learning environment for incoming students. Major strengths of this program are: 1) the breadth and relevant experience of the faculty and advisory committee, 2) the favorable ratio of trainees to preceptors, 3) the enrichment and networking opportunities beyond those provided by the individual institutions, 4) the close research and intellectual interaction among all participants, and 5) the size and manageability of the program.