One of the most powerful and promising approaches for unlocking the mysteries of how the nervous system forms, how it works, and how it breaks down in injury or disease, is the application of the methods of modern Cellular and Molecular Biology to the traditional problems of Neuroscience. A new program is proposed to train graduate students in the fundamentals of both Cell/Molecular Biology and Neurobiology. The program uniquely combines training in protein and nucleic acid biochemistry, gene expression, cell biology, and genetics with training in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and developmental neurobiology. The program, which is intended to culminate in the award of the Ph.D. degree, will be carried out under the auspices of a multi-departmental, multi- disciplinary graduate training group, and will take advantage of a wide range of resources available at U.C. Irvine for the conduct of Neurobiological research. The program will involve 16 primary training faculty with primary appointments in 7 different departments. All are experienced Neuroscience trainers, and all run thriving research laboratories that use a variety of cutting- edge approaches to address important Neurobiological questions. Six predoctoral traineeships are requested during the first two years of the proposed program, with eight requested thereafter. Traineeships will be used to support students during the first two years of the program, when they will complete extensive coursework, engage in laboratory rotations, attend lab meetings, seminars, and journal clubs, and obtain teaching experience. During this time, the progress of trainees will be monitored and evaluated through written and oral examinations. Beginning in the second year of training, students embark on thesis research, under the close supervision of a training mentor and committee of program faculty. Following completion of this program, trainees will be qualified for careers in Neuroscience research and/or teaching in basic science departments and medical schools, or for research careers in non-academic research laboratories.
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