Neurobiology of Disease Course at Meharry Medical College/Vanderbilt University

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The present proposal outlines a new course required in the graduate program in Neuroscience at Meharry Medical College(MMC), developed in partnership with the PhD-granting Neuroscience program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUMC) with specific aims to:1) Develop a graduate course in the Neurobiolology of Disease that focuses on Parkinson's disease & related neurological disorders, Dementias including Alzheimer's, Addictions, Pain, and Depression & related mood disorders, addressing the clinical and pathological manifestations of these diseases, the health disparities inherent in these diseases, extant clinical and behavioral research related to these diseases, and the molecular and cellular underpinnings of these diseases; 2) Develop a course that also serves as an elective for medical students, participants in the Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation, the PhD degree in Clinical Investigation currently under development at MMC, postdoctoral fellows , and for similar trainees VUMC, including Fellows in the VUMC-MMC Addiction Psychiatry Interdisciplinary Research Training program; 3) Develop a web-based sharing of this program, in its entirety, and annual mini-courses on one element of this program for national participation, with CME credit; 4) Develop, in consultation with a nationally recognized evaluation scholar, Georgine Pion, PhD, an instrument that informs both the course effectiveness in achieving its multiple but interdependent goals and the continuing evolution of this program. The intended and desired outcome of this course is to prepare trainees for intensive collaborations along the basic-translational-clinical continuum, including encouraging basic science PhD graduates to consider postdoctoral research in a translational or clinical environment, and clinically trained individuals to assimilate molecular tools into their clinical and translational research. Because of the mission of Meharry Medical College, this course will reach a considerable number of minority trainees, thus enhancing the diversity of the workforce prepared to translate basic discoveries into clinical interventions and reciprocally test novel hypotheses regarding clinical enigmas. Course participants also will understand in more detail the biological and social contributors to the health disparities in each of these diseases. This proposal is submitted under the aegis of "The Alliance for Research Training in Neuroscience".