This proposal aims to provide funding for a pre-doctoral training program in Neurobehavioral Genetics (NBG). The completion of human genome sequencing provides an extraordinary opportunity to identify the genetic basis of disorders of brain function. Progress in this endeavor will be speeded by bridging several longstanding dichotomies; between nervous system mechanisms and behavior, between neurology and psychiatry/psychology, between diseases and non-disease traits, and between humans and model organisms. The goal of this proposal is to achieve such bridging by providing a unified and multidisciplinary training to PhD candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, including neuroscience, psychology, human genetics, neuroimaging, and pharmacology. If funded, this program would be the only training program focusing on mammalian or complex genetics at UCLA, thus serving a critical training niche for a large number of students from a variety of primary disciplines. Integrated training in genomics, neuroscience and phenomics is a critical step in the development of efficient, higher throughput genetic investigation of brainrelated phenotypes. The program will emphasize the importance of systematic delineation and assessment of nervous system phenotypes, including the integration of traditional clinical and cognitive evaluations with recently available phenotyping tools such as neuroimaging and gene expression profiling. This predoctoral training program will be closely integrated with a post-doctoral NBG training program which we anticipate will be funded through a T32 grant from NINDS beginning in 2004. The interactions of predoctoral students with postdoctoral fellows and faculty from disciplines that they would ordinarily not interact with in their primary department or program through the shared coursework and seminar series will provide a unique and special training environment for these predoctoral candidates. The ambitious goals of the program are achievable because the program faculty is very strong in virtually all of the areas that are relevant to neurobehavioral genetics, and because the faculty members have long embraced, in their research, the integrative and crossdisciplinary approach that is at the heart of the program. ? ? ?
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