Multidisciplinary Training in Brain Disorders and Development

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The goal of this postdoctoral training program is to train young scientists and promote careers focused on understanding and developing treatments for developmental brain disorders. Multidisciplinary training is planned in scientific disciplines relevant to the study of neurodevelopmental disorders. Thus, 31 training faculty have been selected from 7 departments. They include: 5 MDs, 6 MD/PhDs and 20 PhDs. There are: 16 Professors, 9 Associate Professors and 6 Assistant Professors. There are currently 119 postdoctoral students training in laboratories of the faculty. This training program is now based in the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (The NRI) which has become a major center for the study of developmental brain abnormalities and shares the goals of this training program. Dr. John Swann will continue to serve as the Program Director and will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the program. Dr. Huda Zoghbi will continue to serve as co-director. Major areas of training include the genetic and molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders including but not limited to: Autism, Rett syndrome, Angelman syndrome and Lysosomal Storage Diseases. Another concentrated area of training is in epilepsy where the molecular bases of the inherited as well as acquired epilepsies are studied. The labs employ cutting edge biotechnology to study human disorders and create relevant animals models of disease in order to not only understand the molecular basis for these disorders but to screen potential new therapies that could lead to clinical trials and eventually enter clinical practice. Over the past 14 years of support, 38 postdoctoral students have entered our training program. From the first 10 years of grant support, 18 of 23 trainees (78%) became faculty members at major universities. Twenty-six percent of our trainees have been from diversity groups. Four of them are now faculty members and 2 are scientists working in industry. We have also trained 5 MD/PhD child neurologists that have been awarded K08 grants and are now pursuing research careers. Three training tracks are offered. One is for PhDs who receive substantial training in clinical aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders through dinner discussions, clinical conferences and subspecialty clinics. Another is for MD/PhDs and MDs with substantial research experience. MDs with little research experience receive more formal training which includes laboratory rotations and graduate courses. A number of unique shared training opportunities are being offered to our trainees including the new Workshops for Postdocs. By training outstanding research scientists, we feel new understandings and treatments for the devastating neurological disorders of infants and young children will emerge.