This application requests continuing support for Predoctoral Training in Systems and Integrative Biology with specific emphasis on Graduate Training in Neuroscience. The training program proposed encompasses Neuroscience from the study of such complex systems as the cortical processing of visual information to the molecular biology of synaptic transmission and neurotransmitter regulation of gene expression. The goal of the program is to prepare students for research careers in Neuroscience with an emphasis on a multi-dimensional approach to the problem. With this goal in mind we have assembled a faculty able to direct research projects in behavior, development, biochemistry, cellular electrophysiology, biophysics, molecular biology, photonics, psychophysics, cortical function, computational neuroscience and the molecular genetics of diseases of the brain. These faculty members are brought together in this goal by their common interests in Neuroscience and in their commitment to providing both didactic teaching and laboratory training to graduate students. We have implemented a new integrated core curriculum in Integrative Neuroscience that provides students with a broad foundation in Neuroscience that we hope will carry them forward in their work even as their specific research in Neuroscience may change over the course of their careers. We have prepared a series of exams that will test our progress in this endeavor, and have a number of mechanisms in place to promote collaborative interactions between the students and the faculty in different departments. We believe that Predoctoral Training in Neuroscience meets an important need in modern neurobiology research, the training of a cadre of broadly trained students with an integrated understanding across the tremendously broad spectrum of contemporary molecular, cellular and systems neuroscience. Ph.D. students also need to gain a clear appreciation of the many timely disease-related opportunities in Neuroscience research. This program in Graduate Training in Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine makes an important contribution to this endeavor through the recruitment and education of young scientists able to execute this mission.
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