Diverse racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities and/or having socially, economically, or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented in neuroscience. Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) recognizes that increasing the number of highly qualified neuroscientists from these underrepresented populations is integral to our future as an academic and research institution. Hunter College aims to increase the number of well-trained, diverse neuroscientists. The overall goal of this application is to develop a neuroscience training program at Hunter that will encourage and prepare students from diverse backgrounds to enter into and succeed in PhD programs in the neurosciences. To achieve this goal, Hunter has developed a research-educational partnership with four outstanding T32-awarded universities-New York University, Brown University, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University. This partnership will expose 12 BP-ENDURE-trainee students per year to a research-intensive curriculum and an environment of excellence and active research. Moreover, because of the diversity of the proposed mentors, students will be exposed to a broad spectrum of researchers, including basic neuroscientists interested in central nervous system (CNS) issues and applied neuroscientists from the areas of clinical, social, health, developmental, and cognitive neuropsychology. To achieve our goals, the following aims are proposed: (1) To develop an outstanding group of undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds dedicated to neuroscience research;(2) To provide scientific skill and research experiences to our trainees through research placement with actively funded neuroscientists;(3) To develop academic development and curriculum enhancement activities rooted in the student's research activities;(4) To maintain an effective Administrative Core to support our students'needs and development. Our measurable objectives during the requested funding period include: (1) attain 85 to 90% acceptance of trainees to graduate school programs in neuroscience;(2) improvement of our students in quantitative skills and academic achievements as well as their (3) scientific writing and oral presentations. Outcome from evaluations of the Steering Committee, the external evaluator, and the Administrative Core will guide future modifications to our training initiatives.

Public Health Relevance

Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York University, Brown University, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University recognize that increasing the number of highly qualified neuroscientists from diverse backgrounds is integral to their futures as academic and research institutions. A partnership between these institutions aims to develop a neuroscience training program that will prepare students from diverse backgrounds to enter into and succeed in PhD programs in the neurosciences.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Education Projects (R25)
Project #
5R25GM097634-02
Application #
8150931
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-ERB-S (06))
Program Officer
Hagan, Ann A
Project Start
2010-09-30
Project End
2015-08-31
Budget Start
2011-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$549,046
Indirect Cost
Name
Hunter College
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
620127915
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10065
Aoki, Chiye; Chen, Yi-Wen; Chowdhury, Tara Gunkali et al. (2018) ?4??-GABAA receptors in dorsal hippocampal CA1 of adolescent female rats traffic to the plasma membrane of dendritic spines following voluntary exercise and contribute to protection of animals from activity-based anorexia through localization at excitator J Neurosci Res 96:1450-1466
Luine, Victoria; Serrano, Peter; Frankfurt, Maya (2018) Rapid effects on memory consolidation and spine morphology by estradiol in female and male rodents. Horm Behav :
Aoki, Chiye; Chowdhury, Tara G; Wable, Gauri S et al. (2017) Synaptic changes in the hippocampus of adolescent female rodents associated with resilience to anxiety and suppression of food restriction-evoked hyperactivity in an animal model for anorexia nervosa. Brain Res 1654:102-115
Nedelescu, Hermina; Chowdhury, Tara G; Wable, Gauri S et al. (2017) Cerebellar sub-divisions differ in exercise-induced plasticity of noradrenergic axons and in their association with resilience to activity-based anorexia. Brain Struct Funct 222:317-339
Chen, Yi-Wen; Actor-Engel, Hannah; Sherpa, Ang Doma et al. (2017) NR2A- and NR2B-NMDA receptors and drebrin within postsynaptic spines of the hippocampus correlate with hunger-evoked exercise. Brain Struct Funct 222:2271-2294
Gonzales, Junior; Bhupathiraju, N V S Dinesh K; Perea, William et al. (2017) Facile synthesis of chlorin bioconjugates by a series of click reactions. Chem Commun (Camb) 53:3773-3776
Wable, G S; Chen, Y-W; Rashid, S et al. (2015) Exogenous progesterone exacerbates running response of adolescent female mice to repeated food restriction stress by changing ?4-GABAA receptor activity of hippocampal pyramidal cells. Neuroscience 310:322-41
Wable, Gauri S; Min, Jung-Yun; Chen, Yi-Wen et al. (2015) Anxiety is correlated with running in adolescent female mice undergoing activity-based anorexia. Behav Neurosci 129:170-82
Sabaliauskas, Nicole; Shen, Hui; Molla, Jonela et al. (2015) Neurosteroid effects at ?4?? GABAA receptors alter spatial learning and synaptic plasticity in CA1 hippocampus across the estrous cycle of the mouse. Brain Res 1621:170-86
Chowdhury, Tara Gunkali; Chen, Yi-Wen; Aoki, Chiye (2015) Using the Activity-based Anorexia Rodent Model to Study the Neurobiological Basis of Anorexia Nervosa. J Vis Exp :e52927

Showing the most recent 10 out of 17 publications