Multidisciplinary Training in Brain Disorders and Development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this postdoctoral training program is to train young scientists, particularly physician scientists, and promote careers focused on understating and developing treatments for developmental brain disorders. Multidisciplinary training is planned in scientific disciplines relevant to the study of neurodevelopmental disorders. Thus, 21 training faculty have been selected from 5 departments. They include: 3 MDs, 2 MD/PhDs and 16 PhDs. There are: 11 Professors, 4 Associate Professors and 6 Assistant Professors. There are currently 70 postdoctoral students training in laboratories of the faculty and include 10 MD/PhDs, 10 MDs and 50 PhDs. Dr. John Swann will continue to serve as the Program Director and will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the program. Drs. Huda Zoghbi and Jeff Noebels will continue to serve as co-directors. Major areas of training include the genetic and molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders including but not limited to: Rett syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and Autism. Another concentrated area of training is in epilepsy where the molecular bases of the inherited as well as acquired epilepsies are studied. All laboratories employ cutting edge biotechnology to create and study relevant animals models of disease in order to not only understand the biological basis for these disorders but to screen potential new therapies that could lead to clinical trials and eventually enter clinical practice. During the current funding cycle, 10 postdoctoral students have thus far entered our training program and 6 are already faculty members at major universities. These include 3 MD/PhD child neurologists that have been awarded K08 grants and are now pursuing research careers. Three training tracks are offered. One is for MD/PhDs and MDs with substantial research experience. Another is for less experienced MDs where training is more formal and includes laboratory rotations and graduate courses. PhDs receive substantial training in clinical aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders through Dinner Discussions, clinical conferences and subspecialty clinics. Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have committed substantial resources to the study of the neurobiology of disease and are currently planning the creation of the "Texas Children's Neurological Research Institute" which promises to become a major center for postdoctoral training for generations to come. By training outstanding research scientists, we feel new understandings and treatments for the devastating developmental disorders in infants and young children will emerge.