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 Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Education Projects (R25)
Project #
8R25NS080686-03
Application #
8327819
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-ERB-S (06))
Program Officer
Jones, Michelle
Project Start
2010-09-30
Project End
2015-08-31
Budget Start
2012-09-01
Budget End
2013-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$565,573
Indirect Cost
$31,126
Name
Hunter College
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
620127915
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10065
Sjulson, Lucas; Peyrache, Adrien; Cumpelik, Andrea et al. (2018) Cocaine Place Conditioning Strengthens Location-Specific Hippocampal Coupling to the Nucleus Accumbens. Neuron 98:926-934.e5
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 :
O'Reilly, Kally C; Levy, Eliott R J; Patino, Alejandra V et al. (2018) Sub-circuit alterations in dorsal hippocampus structure and function after global neurodevelopmental insult. Brain Struct Funct 223:3543-3556
Avila, Jorge A; Alliger, Amber A; Carvajal, Brigett et al. (2017) Estradiol rapidly increases GluA2-mushroom spines and decreases GluA2-filopodia spines in hippocampus CA1. Hippocampus 27:1224-1229
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
Dunsmoor, Joseph E; Kroes, Marijn C W; Braren, Stephen H et al. (2017) Threat intensity widens fear generalization gradients. Behav Neurosci 131:168-75
Bhattacharya, Aditi; Mamcarz, Maggie; Mullins, Caitlin et al. (2016) Targeting Translation Control with p70 S6 Kinase 1 Inhibitors to Reverse Phenotypes in Fragile X Syndrome Mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 41:1991-2000
Bowman, Rachel E; Luine, Victoria; Diaz Weinstein, Samantha et al. (2015) Bisphenol-A exposure during adolescence leads to enduring alterations in cognition and dendritic spine density in adult male and female rats. Horm Behav 69:89-97
Zanca, Roseanna M; Braren, Stephen H; Maloney, Brigid et al. (2015) Environmental Enrichment Increases Glucocorticoid Receptors and Decreases GluA2 and Protein Kinase M Zeta (PKM?) Trafficking During Chronic Stress: A Protective Mechanism? Front Behav Neurosci 9:303

Showing the most recent 10 out of 24 publications