The Iowa Neuroscience Specialty Program in Research Education (INSPIRE)

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This application requests continuation of funding for a successful and long-standing training program (dating back to 1991). This program was rebranded 5 years ago as the Iowa Neuroscience Specialty Program In Research Education (INSPIRE) to integrate training in Translational Neuroscience relevant to psychiatry with an emphasis on a lifespan trajectory perspective. Research opportunities are unified through a focus on the critical framework for Translational Neuroscience, the NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project which focuses on mechanisms of psychopathology within functional dimensions rather than diagnostic criteria. INSPIRE is now training young investigators who have a high level of sophistication in thinking about and interrogating the complexities of the human brain’s functional domains, the change of these systems over time, and how discovery of mechanisms of pathologic functioning are translated to clinical diagnosis and treatment. The Co-PIs are Peg Nopoulos, an alumnus of this T32 program herself and a national leader in research training and neuroimaging, and John Wemmie, a translational psychiatry investigator with long-term federal research funding across multiple domains. The Co-PIs have retained the solid foundation of this program put in place by Nancy Andreasen, a pioneer in neuroimaging and psychosis. The reframed program started 5 years ago has two core areas: 1) a highly structured curriculum emphasizing Translational Neuroscience, and 2) a focus on the study of neurobiologic mechanisms of psychiatric illness across the lifespan. The content of the program expanded into multiple areas of Translational Neuroscience by partnering with the Molecular and Computational Psychiatry division and the Iowa Neuroscience Institute (INI). MD/PhD and PhD mentors with strong training records are newly recruited to the program due to a focus on Translational Neuroscience or through recent INI recruitment. Accordingly, the program has a diverse, interdisciplinary group of trainees with basic science PhDs, MDs, and MD/PhDs all building a Translational Neuroscience identity. Matching funds that support additional trainees help to form a cohesive cohort. This mix of types of trainees adds an additional layer of exposure to translational research with a strong emphasis on team science. Central to the training is the Master’s in Translational Biomedicine (TBM) program through our Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS). This program is designed to be individualized and flexible. The INSPIRE program recruits fellows to fill 4 positions each year for two years of postdoctoral training. Each fellow is ‘matched’ with an outstanding mentor and mentor team to oversee the primary activity of mentored research. A weekly seminar encompasses essential skills including presenting, writing, and networking with faculty in Translational Neuroscience. In addition, each fellow develops a program through the TBM that suits their needs while fulfilling requirements (such as Training in Responsible Conduct in Research), utilizing formal didactics and career development activities. A degree (certificate or Master’s) is an option, but not required.