Science AMA Series: We’re Neuroscientists coming from academia,
government, and the non-profit sector here to discuss Neuroscience
training in the 21st century. Ask us anything!
Abstract
Hi Reddit! We are Drs. Huda Akil, Edda (Floh) Thiels, S. Murray Sherman,
Todd Sherer, David Cardozo, and Walter Koroshetz – Neuroscientists who
are passionate about rethinking neuroscience graduate and post-graduate
training. We recently published a Perspective in Neuron that discuss the
training and workforce needs for the neuroscience field in light of the
changing scientific and career development landscape. With the launch of
the US BRAIN initiative and similar large-scale neuroscience research
programs being developed, globally important questions are being raised
about whether we’re training and developing students and postdocs in the
right way to meet the ambitious aims of Neuroscience in the 21st
century. We see a need for deeper quantitative, analytical skills and
interdisciplinary skills amongst neuroscientists, as well as a more
integrative training that better prepares students for careers both
inside and outside of the academic system. Neuroscience as a discipline
has been changing and growing, with an increasing emphasis on new
technologies, more extensive collaborations, and big data increasingly
requiring different kinds of experimental and analysis approaches. There
are also more interactions at the edges of the field with other
disciplines like translational medicine, engineering, and computer
science. Students and postdocs, this is about you and your future, and
we want to hear from you. What do you see as the key challenges for
training and career development for neuroscientists? How do you feel
about the vision proposed in the Perspective? Read the full text of the
Perspective at Neuron Huda Akil, Ph.D.: Gardner Quarton Distinguished
University Professor of Neuroscience & Psychiatry and Co-Director &
Research Professor The Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute,
University of Michigan Edda (Floh) Thiels, Ph.D: I am a member of the
faculty in Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh and a Program
Director of the National Science Foundation. I can discuss neuroscience
research and training from the perspective of a principal investigator
and mentor, as well as training in neuroscience and related disciplines
from the perspective of a funding agency. S. Murray Sherman, Ph.D.:
Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology at the University
of Chicago. My research involves very basic questions using animal
models to investigate the functional organization of the thalamus and
cerebral cortex. Todd Sherer, Ph.D.: Chief Executive Officer, The
Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research David Cardozo, Ph.D.:
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School. I am
attempting to isolate neural stem cells from rat and human tissue.
Walter Koroshetz, M.D.: Director of National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke We’re here from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET (10 am PST, 6
pm UTC) to answer your questions about developing the expertise needed
to advance neuroscience in the 21st century! Ask Us Anything!