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A Symposium on Building Networks for the Center for Translational Neuroscience
Summary:
In 2010, MU established the Center for Translational Neuroscience to bring together researchers from across campus to study novel therapies for the prevention and treatment and some of biggest health challenges facing the country’s aging population: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative disease.
The center focuses on basic and translational medical neuroscience projects and serves as a training ground for medical students, graduate students, residents and postdoctoral fellows from a wide range of disciplines. Its research programs in stroke, Parkinson’s disease, sleep and cancer and inflammatory proteins are support by grants from NIH, the DANA foundation and the American Hearth Association.
To launch the Center, Mizzou Advantage helped sponsor a two-day symposium to highlight these collaborations, encourage new interdisciplinary research and grant applications and showcase the Center’s new facility in the MU School of Medicine.
Outcomes:
Symposium:
The two-day symposium was held Feb. 27 – March 1 of 2011, and included speeches by Provost Brian Foster and Chancellor Brady Deaton. Presentations from Doug Anthony, the director of the Center and chair and other MU researchers – including Grace Sun, Gary Weisman and Zezong Gu – represented the ground breaking research being done in MU’s departments of biochemistry, pathology and anatomical sciences and the Thompson Center for Autism.
Distinguished speakers at the conference hailed Tufts University, Louisiana State University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, the University of California-San Diego, Emory University, the University of Connecticut, and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Taiwan.
This prestigious group of scientists included the 2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Roger Tsien from University of California-San Diego.
Identifying Collaborators:
More than 185 people attended the symposium, including faculty and students from across campus and the community-including 30 Columbia high school students and undergraduate and graduate students from Missouri State University, Washington University, St. Louis University, the KU Medical Center, UMKC and UMSL.
By bringing these people together, the Center has identified more than 300 faculty in different areas of the neuroscience field and is building a listserv to connect potential collaborators.
Enhancing existing networks:
The symposium enhanced the discussions and collaborations in Alzheimer’s disease by bringing MU faculty together with distinguished researchers from across the country. In addition, MU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program (INP) helped to organize the conference, further expanding their connections to the neuroscience community on campus.
Related Iniative(s):
One Health/One Medicine
Project tagged as: community, disease, education, health, innovation, symposia/workshops