Basic Science Training Program in the Neurobiology of Mental Illness

德克萨斯大学西南分校精神疾病神经生物学基础科学培训项目（NMI）旨在为博士生、博士后和短期暑期研究员提供与精神疾病直接相关的跨学科、以基础疾病为导向的研究培训。德克萨斯大学西南分校新NMI培训项目的申请是对NIMH呼吁的直接回应，NIMH呼吁更多的基础科学家在广泛的多样化、创新的基础研究中接受培训，这些基础研究密切影响我们对精神疾病的理解和治疗。除了在全国范围内缺乏探索神经精神疾病的神经生物学的基础科学研究人员外，相反，缺乏经过临床训练的从事精神疾病基础研究的个人，从而减少了这一领域迫切需要的交流。精神障碍的复杂性需要跨学科的方法来阐明潜在的疾病机制，并开发更好的诊断措施、治疗方法，并最终治愈。我们的NMI培训项目有很多优势，包括：a) UT西南大学的优秀环境，在其中进行基础的，跨学科的生物医学研究；b) UT西南神经科学界的智力强度和紧密联系；C)整合多个学术部门进行的基础神经生物学研究；d)德克萨斯大学西南分校在探索抑郁症、精神分裂症和自闭症的基础方面有着异常强大的基础；E)基础科学与精神疾病临床项目的预先整合；F)潜在学员的广度和深度；(g)计算初级和高级导师之间的相互作用，从而确保初级导师也将从培训方案中受益，并在今后几年继续从事心理健康研究；h)新颖的，以翻译为导向的培训内容，如动手神经生理学和人类神经解剖学实验室，新的临床相关性研讨会，以及每位实习生博士论文委员会中有临床医生的存在。NMI培训计划旨在鼓励最优秀的在职基础科学家将注意力转向精神疾病的研究，目的是开发治疗抑郁症、精神分裂症、自闭症和发育障碍以及其他严重、常见精神疾病的新疗法。精神病学部门正在进行的心理健康研究已经激励了许多德克萨斯大学西南分校的研究人员进行心理健康研究。这个培训计划的目标是吸引和激励更多的年轻科学家从事心理健康研究，考虑到西南大学提供的研究人员、环境和学员的真正卓越和转化性质，这是合理和可行的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Basic Science Training Program in the Neurobiology of Mental Illness (NMI) at UT Southwestern is designed to provide interdisciplinary, basic disease-oriented research training directly relevant to mental illness to predoctoral, postdoctoral and short-term summer fellows. This application for a new NMI Training Program at UT Southwestern is a direct response to NIMH's call for more basic scientists trained in a broad range of diverse, innovative basic research that closely informs our understanding and treatment of mental illness. In addition to the paucity of basic science researchers nationwide exploring the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric diseases, there is, conversely, a dearth of clinically-trained individuals pursuing basic research in mental illness, thus diminishing the very cross talk that is urgently needed in this field. The complexity of mental disorders demands an interdisciplinary approach to illuminate underlying disease mechanisms and to develop better diagnostic measures, treatments, and ultimately cures. Our NMI training program has numerous strengths, including: a) the outstanding environment at UT Southwestern in which to conduct basic, interdisciplinary biomedical research; b) the intellectual intensity and close-knit nature of the UT Southwestern neuroscience community; c) the integration of fundamental neurobiological research performed in multiple academic divisions; d) the unusually strong foundation at UT Southwestern to explore fundamental underpinnings of depression, schizophrenia and autism; e) the preexisting integration of basic science with clinical programs in mental illness; f) the breadth and depth of our potential trainees; g) calculated interactions between junior and senior mentors, thus ensuring that junior mentors will also benefit from the Training Program and will remain in mental health research in future years; and h) novel, translationally-oriented training components, such as hands-on neurophysiology and human neuroanatomy laboratories, a new Clinical Correlations Seminar, and the presence of a clinician on each trainee's doctoral thesis committee. The NMI Training Program is designed to encourage the best basic scientists-in-training to turn their attention to studying mental illness, with a purposeful endpoint being the development of new treatments for depression, schizophrenia, autism and developmental disorders, and other severe, common mental illnesses. The mental health research that is ongoing in the Department of Psychiatry has already inspired many UT Southwestern researchers to pursue mental health research. This Training Plan's goal of attracting and inspiring additional young scientists to pursue mental health research is both warranted and feasible given the truly exceptional and translational nature of the researchers, environment, and trainees offered by UT Southwestern.