The current application requests continuing support for a highly successful training program at Vanderbilt University that focuses on the fundamentals of neuroscience. The grant seeks support for fourteen predoctoral trainees, focusing on the first two years of Ph.D. training in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. This program is a joint venture between the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science, administered through the Vanderbilt Brain Institute. The goal of the training program is to provide a curriculum that assures that each student has a core knowledge in neuroscience, spanning a number of different levels from molecules and cells to higher order brain function. In addition to a core body of knowledge, we expect students to become scholars in the area of neuroscience that relates directly to their thesis research. Significant strengths include program leadership, world-class training faculty, excellent students and a highly collegial training environment. The program director is a well-known neuroscientist with excellent credentials and a stellar training career. The training program is characterized by an interdisciplinary curriculum combined with state-of-the-art research opportunities. Students choose between two focus areas (Molecular/Cellular Neuroscience or Integrative/Cognitive Neuroscience), with overlapping entry-level courses with advanced courses that are tailored to a specific interest. All trainees participate in ongoing seminars, alternating weekly between the Neuroscience Graduate Seminar, presented by a renowned visiting scholar, and the Neuroscience Research Forum, in which graduate students make scientific presentations. Research rotations during the first year allow students an opportunity to learn a variety of techniques and get to know a laboratory before making a decision about a thesis research home. ? The 54-member training faculty, representing fifteen departments across campus, have diverse, well-funded research programs. Areas of particular specialty include synaptic mechanisms, intracellular signal transduction, neural development, sensory systems, behavior, and genetics of brain diseases. Graduates have strong publication records and are pursuing scientific careers that will address the national needs for biomedical and behavioral research relevant to brain diseases and disorders. ? ? ?
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