Neurobiology of CNS Injury and Repair

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Project Summary This is a renewal application requesting continued funding for a Neurobiology of CNS Injury and Repair T32 Training Program to support 4 predoctoral fellows per year for a 2-year training period, working toward their PhD degrees in the fields of traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), or stroke. The overall goal continues to be to prepare highly motivated graduate students for careers in neurotrauma research-related fields by providing broad-based training in the pathophysiology of TBI, SCI, and stroke and the identification of potential disease-modifying molecular targets that can drive the discovery of pharmacological or gene-based therapeutic strategies. An Executive Committee will select trainees from a pool of qualified applicants, generally in their third year of PhD training. Trainees will receive intensive hands-on research mentoring, with an emphasis on understanding and applying quantitative assessment tools in laboratories of Training Faculty appointed in the Depts. of Neuroscience, Physiology, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences who regularly interact and collaborate through their affiliation with the University of Kentucky's (UK) Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Research Center and Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science (CATSS). In addition to coursework, trainees will engage in journal clubs, responsible conduct of research training, Center and Departmental seminar series, and a customized set of program-wide meetings in Professional Skills, and Quantitative Literacy-Experimental Design and Statistics (PSQL-EDS). The monthly PSQL-EDS will facilitate active learning of concepts such as quantitative literacy, statistical analysis, and scientific rigor, as well as scientific writing and professional development. Of the students appointed to the T32 Program in the previous 9 years, 13 have completed their PhDs, 2 will complete their PhDs in year 10, and 6 will continue their PhD training. All those that completed their PhDs continued into science-related positions. Several are continuing their education (3 postdocs, 1 resident), one is an AAAS science policy fellow at the NIH, and the majority are pursuing careers in academia (3 Assistant Professors, 1 instructor, 1 researcher) and biomedical industry (2). The PhD completion and career placement success of the T32 Program is further highlighted by an outstanding record of recruiting and retaining diverse trainees: a large proportion of appointees are of underrepresented race or ethnicity, have a disability, or come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program's success and continued evolution will be guided by two groups: an Executive Committee comprised of the Program Directors, Training Faculty, and senior UK faculty who bring expertise in administration, mentoring, and inclusion research initiatives, and an External Advisory Board of national leaders in TBI, SCI, and stroke research. Through the pairing of comprehensive, research-intensive training with didactic and interactive educational/career development activities delivered from diverse perspectives, this T32 Program is uniquely positioned to fill a growing need for rigorously trained scientists who desire careers in neurotrauma.