NSERC CREATE Training Program in Neuroengineering

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Injury to the central nervous system (CNS), whether sustained by trauma or disease, is extraordinarily difficult to repair. Traumatic CNS and PNS (Peripheral Nervous System) injury alone affects more than 250,000 Canadians per year, often leading to lifelong disability. The goal defined by this CREATE team is to explore a novel strategy for treating nervous system injury. The CREATE team brings together chemists, physicists, biomedical engineers, electrical engineers, and neuroscientists to generate innovative techniques to study mechanisms of axon guidance and synaptogenesis as well as to develop new techniques for using the output signals from synapses on synthetic matrices to control effector organs. The need for a CREATE in Neuroengineering arises from the widely acknowledged research and training gap that exists between neuroscientists and physical scientists/engineers. Of particularly importance is the gap between "tool-builders" and "tool-users", where the tools in question range from advanced imaging techniques, to sample manipulation techniques such as microfluidics, to nanomaterials. Effective methods development requires a robust feedback loop between the "tool-builders" and "tool-users". The Neuroengineering-CREATE training program thus features a number of non-curriculum based experiences and training in methods and techniques. A graduate of this training program will have developed a unique set of skills that go far beyond the formal portion of their graduate and postdoctoral training - including "accelerator" short courses, workshops in new tools/techniques, IP/industry workshops, and 'Bridging-the-Gap' meetings. Graduates from Neuroengineering/CREATE will thus be well-positioned to take on leadership roles in the biomedical devices industry, government regulatory directorates, and academia.