Behavioral Neuroscience Research Core

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PROJECT SUMMARY The current Behavioral Neuroscience (BN) core facility, housed within the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kansas State University (KSU), is the only dedicated BN core in Psychology in the State of Kansas. The BN core facility will be modernized and augmented through conducting alterations and renovations, and adding major equipment items to expand the capabilities of the facility. The BN core is a fully functional research core that was purpose-built in the early 1980s, and currently services 20-30 users including the BN PhD program. The core facility improvements will focus on the surgery, microscopy, wet laboratory, and cage wash facilities. The upgrades will expand the range of technologies available in the facility, allowing for the inclusion of cutting- edge techniques into current and future research programs. The core is directed by Dr. Stephen Kiefer, a nationally-known researcher in Behavioral Neuroscience in the area of taste-reactivity and alcohol abuse. Dr. Kirkpatrick (the COBRE PI/PD) will serve as associate director of the core to provide additional senior leadership. Additional training and mentoring will be supplied by the COBRE mentoring team, external advisory committee members, and members from the BN collaborative network at KSU. A veterinary technician will provide daily facility cleaning and maintenance, and will meet the animal care and husbandry needs of facility users. The BN core will directly support two of the primary projects (Cain and Pickens), the current community of users (including the PI/PD), potential pilot grant holders, and the additions of new faculty, post-doctoral fellow(s) and graduate students. The expansion of the core facilities will also support Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (C-NAP) center programs by providing an excellent training environment for the post-doctoral training program and contributing to the scientific exchange network (SEN) training. Most importantly the BN core upgrades will improve the research infrastructure for animal model research at KSU. Overall, the BN core facility will provide an important component to the attainment of the C-NAP overarching aims by contributing importantly to the success and growth of animal models of plasticity, a central component of C-NAP.