Supervising over 70 graduate students and 22 postdoctoral trainees. • A very positive ..... Dr. Cedric L. Williams, University of Virginia. Dr. Michael J. ..... The VPR in TAMU and TAMHSC currently subsidizes the use of core facilities. Efforts ...... http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/wklemm/documents/Pubs.cvm.format.pdf. Klemm, W. R. ...
Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Annual Report
September 2008 to August 2009
Submitted to the
Vice President for Research
and
Council of Participating Deans
September 21, 2009
Highlights
• 73 regular members, from 9 colleges and 20 departments
• Generates over $50 million in grant funding
• Supervising over 70 graduate students and 22 postdoctoral trainees
• A very positive external review of the Ph.D. program (October, 2008)
• Ph.D. program approved by the Coordinating Board (April, 2009)
• Identified as one of the top 8 (out of 111) interdisciplinary programs at TAMU
• Continued growth in the undergraduate program (with over 80 minors in NRSC)
Plans for 2009/2010
• Establish an effective funding mechanism for graduate training in NRSC
• Establish a base of graduate courses in NRSC through cross-listing
• Process students wishing to transfer to the NRSC Ph.D. program (to start Jan., 2010)
• Recruit first class of graduate students (to start Sept., 2010)
• Continue to build the undergraduate minor
• Obtain approval for the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience (by Jan., 2010)
• Negotiate funding for TAMIN, establishing a base of administrative and graduate support
• Initiate the search for 3 senior faculty in Neuroscience (funded by the TAMIN proposal)
• Continue to build the program and involve a wide-range of faculty
by
James W. Grau, Ph.D.
Chair, Interdisciplinary Faculty of Neuroscience Mission
The Faculty of Neuroscience, and the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, conducts a
range of research, teaching, and service activities across the participating institutions. These
activities are conducted to promote the five major goals of the program:
• to recruit graduate students and faculty interested in interdisciplinary neuroscience
research,
• to provide educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students through
interdisciplinary training,
• to facilitate departmental and college research strengths in the neurosciences through
interdisciplinary collaborations,
• to foster development of new research areas and extramural funding in the neurosciences,
and
• to become a premier neuroscientific community of high national ranking and strong
international reputation.
Elections, Meetings, and Policies
The FNS held elections in the summer of 2009 and re-elected Jim Grau (Psyc) as Chair. He will
serve from September 1, 2009 till August 31, 2011. Others re-elected to the Executive
Committee (EC) include Drs. Jennifer Bizon (Psyc; Curriculum/Graduate Program) and Barry
Setlow (Psyc; Seminar), both of whom will also serve till August of 2011. The remaining
committee chairs (Dr. Ursula Winzer-Serhan [NExT; Membership/Nominating] and Gregg Wells
[NExT; Recruiting]) have appointments that expire in August of 2010. This last year, Candi
LaSarge served as the graduate student representative. Because this is a one-year appointment,
an election is in progress to replace her. In addition, the Policies were modified to allow the
President of the local chapter for the Society of Neuroscience to serve on the EC. Dr. Mary
Meagher (Psyc) was recently elected to this position and will serve till August of 2010.
Eight committee members were elected/re-elected in August of 2009. They are:
Curriculum Committee: Gladys Ko (VIBS) and Mike Smotherman (Biol)
Membership Committee: Louise Abbott (VIBS) and Jane Welsh (VIBS)
Recruiting Committee: Ursula Winzer-Serhan (NExT) and Mendell Rimer (NExT)
Seminar Committee: Jane Welsh (VIBS) and Mike Smotherman (Biol)
Two ad hoc committees were formed to address matters that required additional attention. The
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee was formed to enhance the minor in NRSC and to
promote the development of the undergraduate major. Dr. Lou Tassinary (Visualization) will
chair the committee. Drs. Ginger Carney (Biol), Rachel Hull (Psyc), Gladys Ko (VIBS), and
Marcel Amstalden (Animal Science) are serving on the committee.
With the approval of the Ph.D. program in NRSC, it is imperative that we develop a funding
strategy that provides an assurance of support for at least 5 years of graduate study (assuming the
student remains in good standing). Dr. Jane Welsh has agreed to chair an ad hoc Graduate
Support Committee that will address this issue. Other members of the committee include: Drs.
Barry Setlow (Psyc), Farida Sohrabji (NExT) and Mark Zoran (Biol).
2 The Faculty of Neuroscience met at regular intervals (at the start of each semester and at the end
of the spring semester) to discuss undergraduate/graduate training, the Ph.D. proposal, and the
development of our white paper (the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience [TAMIN]). The EC
generally met 1-2 times per semester to address pending issues. Additional meetings were held
this last year to prepare for the review of the Ph.D. proposal by the external review team,
Regents, and Coordinating Board. In addition to the EC, Dr. Mark Zoran (past Chair of the
Faculty of Neuroscience and an instrumental force in developing the Ph.D. proposal) and Dr.
William Griffith (Head of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics [NExT] within the
Medical School) played an important role. Finally, a subcommittee was formed to write the
white paper describing TAMIN. The committee included: Drs. Marcel Amstalden (Animal
Science), Jennifer Bizon (Psyc), Yoonsuck Che (Computer Sci), Richard Finnell (IBT), Rene
Garcia (Biol), William Griffith (NExT), Jianrong Li (VIBS), Mary Meagher (Psyc), Rajesh
Miranda (NExT), Cynthia Riccio (Ed Psyc), Lou Tassinary (Visualization), Jane Welsh (VIBS),
and Mark Zoran (Biol).
Plans
In the report submitted last year, 7 aims were listed:
1) Establish the interdisciplinary degree in neuroscience
2) Define a presence for neuroscience at A&M
3) Develop faculty links/collaboration
4) Build a strong faculty
5) Strengthen the undergraduate program
6) Establish effective funding mechanisms
7) Learn from other programs
The first aim was to obtain approval for our Ph.D. proposal in Neuroscience (NRSC). A major
obstacle, the agreement of a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the joint administration
of the degree program across TAMU and the HSC, was cleared in the spring of 2008. Once that
was done, an external review of the program was scheduled for October of 2008. The reviewers
were Drs. Rebecca Burwell (Brown University), Cedric Williams (University of Virginia) and
Michael Zigmond (University of Pittsburgh). The program received very positive reviews (see
Attachment A):
• “If the new Doctoral Program receives the necessary support, there is no question that it
can become a world class program and one of the leading neuroscience graduate
programs in the country.”
• “The success of the faculty in generating grant funds is likely due, in part, to the research
areas of interest and the complementary approaches. As a group, the faculty research
interests address important human health problems including aging, diseases of the
nervous system, pain, recovery after injury, and addiction.”
• “We were enormously impressed with the atmosphere of collegiality among the Faculty
of Neuroscience.”
• “We were also impressed by the leadership of the Faculty of Neuroscience, both past and
present. It is outstanding at all levels.”
3 • “One strength of this effort is the apparent support of the administration. This is evident
in the recent hiring successes undoubtedly supported by excellent start-up packages,
construction of a new Life Sciences Building devoted partially to Neuroscience
laboratories, and the strong and well-supported core facilities.”
In response to these reviews, the EC prepared a response (Attachment B). A major issue
concerned the development of an adequate base of funding. This issue was addressed by
augmenting the base budget by $72,000/year for the first two years of the program (2009-2011).
Funds were promised by each VPR (TAMU and Health Science Center [HSC]) and the Deans of
Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Science, and Liberal Arts ($12,000 each). A revised budget was
then developed (Attachment C) and a Program Approval Request (Attachment D) was signed
by Drs. Murano and Dickey and submitted to the Regents in December of 2008. The program
thwas then approved by the Coordinating Board on April 30 of 2009. We have subsequently
begun to process students who wish to transfer into the graduate program and have been
developing a recruiting strategy to recruit new students in the Spring of 2010.
The aims outlined last year were also addressed, in part, through the preparation and submission
of a white paper describing a new institute, the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience
(TAMIN). In response to a call for proposals in the Fall of 2008, we developed a short outline
of the proposal, which was identified as being among the top 18 (our of 111) to be considered in
a second round of evaluation. In the Spring of 2009, a more elaborate proposal (Attachment E)
was developed, along with supporting materials (a video and poster). The Neuroscience
proposal was then selected as one of 8 to be recommended to the Steering Committee. In the
Summer of 2009, we learned that these proposals would be funded, though at a level below the
original request. Cost-sharing agreements (75% Provost, 25% Colleges) were then negotiated to
hire 3 senior faculty in Neuroscience. Space has been requested to house these faculty in the
shelled area of the third floor of the ILSB, adjacent to other neuroscience faculty housed in that
building and the vivarium (essential to many areas of neuroscience research). In addition, funds
are being requested to provide graduate stipends during the first year rotation and partial (25%)
support in years 2-5. Other items being requested include a base administrative budg