Renewal of Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research

总结 特拉华州神经科学研究中心成立于2012年，一期COBRE 该奖项是特拉华州州立大学（DSU）和特拉华州大学（UD）之间的合作 独特地汇集了来自两个非常不同的机构的教师和研究资源： 少数民族服务，本科大学在神经科学研究（DSU）的新兴力量， 以及该州的旗舰研究型大学（UD）。COBRE项目第一阶段的重点是 支持一组早期研究人员的研究和专业发展，其中包括 项目负责人，试点补助PI，以及在COBRE支持下在DSU雇用的新教师，以及 帮助研究人员获得成功和科学成熟。该计划非常 成功地由COBRE-supported研究人员发表了70多篇论文，三名项目负责人“毕业” 进入R 01支持，一名试点研究员毕业于NSF职业奖，两名新教师 在COBRE的支持下被招募到DSU，赢得了K 01奖项。我们的第二阶段项目将加强 我们的中心和神经科学研究在特拉华州通过催化机构投资的研究 基础设施，并继续增加R 01竞争力的神经科学研究人员的数量。 为了支持我们的COBRE工作，随着我们进入第二阶段，UD在以下方面进行了大量投资： 神经科学的研究基础设施，购买具有映射能力的3 T MRI扫描仪 人类大脑活动，以及生物医学和大脑成像中心的建立。我们的相位 COBRE II奖将促进购买7 T小口径磁铁的额外投资， 扩展CBBI的功能，以包括啮齿动物模型的磁共振成像。 我们神经科学中心的首要科学目标是汇集和支持 神经科学家在多个尺度上工作，从人类受试者到啮齿动物和无脊椎动物模型， 提高我们对大脑动态功能的理解。在第二阶段，我们将追求三个 我们中心的具体目标：1）加强特拉华州的研究基础设施和能力， 全面发展生物医学和脑成像中心，包括仪器和专业知识 2）进一步发展跨学科，跨机构的特拉华州中心， 神经科学研究作为一个支持性的科学社区，专注于研究动态结构- 大脑中的功能关系;以及3）让一组新的研究人员参与中心的 综合辅导和专业发展计划，帮助初级教师成为 独立的，外部资助的研究人员。继续执行COBRE计划将有两个重要的意义 惠长远的首先，我们将继续推进到我们的特拉华州神经科学研究中心 成为一个自我维持的，有竞争力的研究中心， 并增加在特拉华州进行的多学科生物医学和行为研究的数量。 第二，中心将支持一批早期教师成为R 01资助的研究人员， 在学术和科学上都达到高级水平。

Summary The Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, established in 2012 with a phase I COBRE award, is a collaboration between Delaware State University (DSU) and the University of Delaware (UD) that uniquely brings together faculty and research resources from two very different institutions: a minority-serving, undergraduate university with an emerging strength in neuroscience research (DSU), and the state's flagship research university (UD). Phase I of the COBRE project was focused on supporting the research and professional development of a group of early stage investigators that included Project Leads, Pilot Grant PIs, and new faculty who were hired at DSU with COBRE support, and helping the investigators achieve grant success and scientific maturity. The program has been very successful with over 70 publications by COBRE-supported researchers, three Project Leads “graduated” into R01 support, a pilot investigator graduated to an NSF CAREER award, and two of the new faculty recruited to DSU with COBRE support winning K01 awards. Our phase II project will strengthen both our Center and neuroscience research in Delaware by catalyzing institutional investment in research infrastructure and continuing to grow the number of R01-competitive neuroscience researchers. Supporting our COBRE effort as we move to Phase II, UD has made a significant investment in the research infrastructure for neuroscience with the purchase of a 3T MRI scanner with the capability to map human brain activity, and the establishment of the Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging. Our phase COBRE II award will catalyze additional investment in the purchase of a 7T, small bore magnet to expand the capabilities of the CBBI to include magnetic resonance imaging of rodent models. The overarching scientific goal of our Neuroscience Center is to bring together and support neuroscientists working at multiple scales, from human subjects to rodent and invertebrate models to improve our understanding of the dynamic function of the brain. During Phase II we will pursue three specific aims for our Center: 1) strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in Delaware by fully developing the Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging to include instrumentation and expertise for small animal MRI; 2) to further develop the interdisciplinary, inter-institutional Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research as a supportive scientific community focused on investigating dynamic structure- function relationships in the brain; and 3) to involve a new group of investigators in the Center's integrated mentoring and professional development program that helps junior faculty become independent, externally-funded researchers. Continuing this COBRE program will have two significant long-term benefits. First, we will continue to advance to our Delaware Center of Neuroscience Research to be a self-sustaining, and competitive research center that will advance our understanding of the brain and increase the amount of multidisciplinary biomedical and behavioral research carried out in Delaware. Second, the Center will support a group of early-stage faculty to become R01-funded investigators and advance to senior levels both academically and scientifically.