Basic Neuroscience Training Grant at Columbia University

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed training grant is designed to support eight postdoctoral scientists per year in a multidepartmental training program devoted to basic neuroscience research. The specific focus of the program is to elucidate basic neural mechanisms associated with drugs of abuse. Twenty-one faculty from basic and clinical departments with interest and expertise in this area will act as mentors. While Columbia University has a training grant to provide support for clinical research in drug abuse, there has never been a training program in basic research in drug abuse. We believe that the institution now provides a strong, and in some ways unique, environment to provide an in depth focus in this area, along with a strong group of proven investigators with demonstrable records of providing first-rate guidance and training to junior investigators. Set 1 of the proposal, Molecular mechanisms that underlie drug reward pathways, includes 14 faculty who work on basic molecular steps in the reward pathway, including acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin receptors, dopamine uptake transporters, circuitry, development, and the mechanism of action of psychostimulant drugs. Set 2, Morbid and neurotoxic responses to drugs of abuse, includes 7 faculty working on mechanisms of neurodegeneration that underlie long-term maladaptive and neurotoxic neural responses to drugs of abuse, particularly in dopaminergic and serotonergic systems. Postdoctoral candidates will be recruited by advertisement, and will participate in existing symposia, seminars, and journal clubs, and in a weekly drug abuse seminar series, some of which will be held jointly with the trainees in the clinical research training program.