This renewal application requests support for the Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Training Program at Vanderbilt University. The program was established in 1991 to provide graduate and postgraduate training for individuals pursuing a research career in neuroscience. For the past decade, neuroscience has been a focus of faculty recruitment in the School of Medicine, creating a nucleus of faculty interested in interdisciplinary neuroscience training. These faculty joined together to develop the current training program that focuses on cellular and molecular neuroscience to emphasize the strengths of the faculty and the opportunities for linkage between molecular and clinical neuroscience. The initial application was funded in 1992. Since then, ten additional faculty have been recruited, a first-year interdisciplinary graduate program providing comprehensive training in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology has been implemented, and a new Center for Molecular Neuroscience has been established. These initiatives as well as new graduate courses, seminar series, and several cross-departmentally-sponsored activities have created a rich environment for interdisciplinary training in neuroscience. To take advantage of the increased number of neuroscience faculty and improved training environment, this renewal requests increased funding from three to six predoctoral slots and from one to four postdoctorals. The program is designed to provide graduate students with an integrated training that consists of a strong foundation in the fundamentals of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and genetics - building on this base with advanced courses in membrane excitability, synaptic transmission, and nervous system development - combined with rigorous in-depth training in research. The principal focus of postdoctoral training is research. Although both predoctoral and postdoctoral training emphasize a research career, several training experiences have been designed to develop teaching and leadership skills. Each of the training faculty has a peer-reviewed, contemporary research laboratory offering training opportunities in chemical and electrical signaling in the nervous system, neurogenetics, neuronal development, neurotoxicity, regulation of gene expression, and biological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases.
