The Psychosis: A Convergent Neuroscience Perspective training grant aims to provide basic and clinical neuroscientists with skills and experiences necessary to launch an interdisciplinary research career that can contribute to mechanistic understanding of psychosis spectrum disorders. This revised renewal application capitalizes on the depth of resources, facilities and faculty dedicated to research and training in translational neuroscience at Penn. The program forges cross-fertilization of clinical neuroscientists, with expertise in psychosis spectrum disorders, and basic neuroscientists, with new methodologies to probe neural mechanisms pertinent to psychosis. Training will be provided in four Units, reflecting concentrations of investigators and laboratories and state of the field: (1) Brain Phenotypes; (2) Neurogenetics; (3) Cellular and Molecular; (4) Computation. While each trainee will work primarily within a Unit, with a mentor supervising the research training, there will be common courses and workshops across Units. The didactic experiences will be coordinated by faculty to assure training in informatics, biostatistics and methodology, ethical conduct of research and a solid grounding in behavioral phenotyping. The 5-year post-doctoral program will have five trainees with M.D., M.D./Ph.D. and Ph.D. degrees, each trained for a period of 2-years. The program capitalizes on extensive experience of the participating laboratories, which have joint grants, training programs, seminars, and enjoy a productive collaboration in all academic activities. The training program dovetails with the academic agenda of the Schizophrenia Research Center, where faculty interact by working collaboratively in research teams in ways that can serve as role models for trainees. We hope that our efforts will continue to help advance the careers of high quality clinical and basic neuroscientists who can move the field ahead collaboratively. Through active participation in research, combined with didactic course work and workshops, trainees learn to conduct research bridging clinical with basic neurosciences relevant to understanding the neurobiology of psychosis spectrum disorders. The Training Committee, which includes the scientific leaders of the Training Units, assists the Program Director and Associate Directors in coordinating recruitment and admissions, assuring appropriate matching of Fellows to mentors and research laboratories, and monitoring quality and progress of training. Responsible conduct of research, data reproducibility, and professionalism are highly emphasized as is diversity, with an Internal Diversity Advisory Board. The program is guided by an External Advisory Board Research projects of trainees span the scope of the participating laboratories with a focus on neurobiology of psychosis. Notably, the proposed program is the only one at Penn emphasizing the training of clinical and basic neuroscientists in the study of complex behavior and psychosis. It contributes the critical mass, creating a stimulating and exciting research environment for trainees and for us.
Psychosis: A Convergent Neuroscience Perspective is a training grant aiming to provide basic and clinical neuroscientists with the skills and knowledge necessary to establish an interdisciplinary research career that can contribute to understanding the neurobiology of psychosis spectrum disorders. This renewal application capitalizes on the depth of resources, facilities and faculty dedicated to research and training in translational neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. The program forges cross-fertilization of clinical and basic neuroscientists, with diverse expertise that is critical for probing neural mechanisms pertinent to psychosis and advancing novel treatments.
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