The Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy (NBA) now enters a renewed period of advancement in the wake of a comprehensive review of our past decade and strategic plans for the coming one. Our history of growth and development across all major departmental missions--research, education, and institutional and extramural service--combined with ongoing enthusiasm and innovation in each of these core missions, provides strong guidance into an engaging future. Existing research programs have flourished while exciting new enterprises have come to fruition. Renewed and also novel partnerships with other departments and centers promises to yield synergy across the neuroscience community in areas of common interest for growth. Our teaching commitments continue to evolve at all levels across the University. Finally, services to the Medical Center, the University, and national and international organizations/initiatives entail numerous leadership and contributory roles from our faculty.
Research on the structure and function of the nervous system remains the Department’s major mission. Several areas of emphasis characterize the Department’s research base: sensory, motor, and integrative systems, neuro-engineering and computational neurobiology, neuroscience of cognition learning and plasticity, the neurobiology of aging development and disease, and cell signaling and transmission. In addition, the faculty have developed a set of active multi-disciplinary focus groups, including those in Motor Physiology, Multi-Sensory Integration, Neuro-Engineering, Cortical Circuitry, and Neuro-Inflammation. Many participate in similar groups with homes in other departments around URMC and the College (e.g. development and stem cell research).
The current international economic recession presents challenges to all, and yet research enterprises continue, novel collaborations and creative new projects proceed to develop and flourish among the faculty, and broadly-based research support structures, core-centers, and training programs have witnessed successful renewal, growth, and success. Invigoration of research programs continues, particularly as our newest faculty members build novel laboratories and programs.
Strategic targets for advancement are in progress, and will nicely augment and extend existing strengths and ongoing initiatives. An exciting new partnership has been forged between NBA and Otolaryngology, starting with the recruitment of Shawn Newlands as its new Chair, and also with an appointment in NBA given his research interests in vestibular neurophysiologist. A natural synergy between departments exists in the special senses of the inner ear and their interactions with other neural systems that guide behavior in everyday life. This initiative has already attracted new faculty, including Chris Holt (pharmaco-physiology of excitable membranes in afferent/efferent interactions of the inner ear), and Ben Crane (otology/neuro-otology, both clinical and basic research). Plans now focus on regenerative sensory neurobiology of the inner ear, including stem/progenitor and molecular approaches to understanding natural development and exploiting interventional strategies toward recovery of lost function. These important developments fit within, and also strengthen, our community as witnessed by the successful renewal of the NIH-funded P30 Core-Center, the Center for Navigation and Communication Sciences (CNCS). The CNCS has grown from an initial group of 11 faculty to 24, and has established national and international stature within key mission areas of the National Institute on Deafness and other Communicative Disorders (NIDCD). The CNCS is in part modeled after, and interacts closely with, the venerable Center for Visual Science (CVS), in which many of our faculty also hold appointments. The result is a proactive set of research cores and activities that help forge an enduring and vital intellectual community.
Another key strategic partner with NBA has been, and continues to be, Biomedical Engineering (BME), with which we share a group of six neuro-engineering faculty augmented by several others jointly appointed. Priorities for future growth are in neurophysiological imaging and interventional neuro-engineering. Other research initiatives developed by our faculty cover the breadth of research in the Department, with funding distributed across several sources, including NIH, DoD, and private foundations.
A strong commitment to education remains a hallmark of the Department, stemming from the very inception of our medical school in 1925. Medical education is one area in which our faculty play major and essential roles. Our engagement in years 1-2 of the Double-Helix Curriculum focuses on two major courses: Human Structure and Function (a composite of gross anatomy, histology, embryology, and physiology; co-directed by Dr. Barbara Davis) and Mind/Brain/Behavior (a mix of fundamental and clinical neuroscience; Co-Directed by Dr. Kerry O'Banion). Our faculty also lead efforts in 3rd and 4th year courses, while participating in a variety of other offerings. In addition, the Medical School’s overall mission receives considerable leadership support by our faculty. That includes Dr. John Hansen who deftly leads the Admissions office, and others who participate in design and governance committees.
An exciting new addition these last two years is the Academic Honors Program in Medical Neurobiology, which adds a fifth year of study, research and teaching experience to the medical curriculum, culminating in a MS Degree conferred along with the MD degree upon graduation. Our first students completed their studies and moved on, one into the MD-PhD program. All four students these last two years received full support for the year from the new NIH-supported Clinical Translational Science Award, and two have chosen to convert into the MD-PhD program. This remarkable record illustrates the catalytic and career-changing potential for this vital program. Finally, NBA co-sponsors the Post-Graduate Medical Scientist Training Program in Medical Neurobiology — a program for graduates of MD-PhD programs that combines a clinical residency in Neurology with post-doctoral research training.
NBA faculty also participate extensively in graduate education. Our own NBA Graduate Program is particularly well suited to both MD/PhD and PhD candidates interested in the function and dysfunction of the nervous system. Training builds upon a broad foundation in basic neuroscience (core curriculum) and then extends into the medical school curriculum to include human and clinical neurobiology. This is combined with strong research training in basic and translational disciplines as students enter their laboratory years. The outcome prepares students particularly well for academic careers within medical school departments like our own, where independent research is combined with medical and graduate teaching. Our faculty also participate heavily in the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Neuroscience, as well as in other training programs, both graduate and undergraduate, in cooperation with the Departments of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS).
Service to the University and the Medical Center continues its high profile of commitment. NBA faculty members hold leadership and participatory roles in cross-campus Centers and undergraduate programs of the College. Dr. Suzanne Stevens continues to lead the University Committee on Animal Research (UCAR) toward an improved and modernized operation. Dr. Kerry O'Banion directs a growing and flourishing MD-PhD Program, funded by the NIH’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). The MSTP continues to attract stellar students to our institution. Dr. Barbara Davis has initiated a new faculty development program in medical education, among numerous other leadership roles in this area. Dr. Diane Piekut directs the Anatomical Gift Program—an essential service element of any medical school. The Program has been substantially revitalized under her guidance. This has catalyzed additional efforts toward the development and expansion of advanced anatomical education at our institution, including new programs for clinical residency training within surgical specialties, continuing medical education programs for surgical faculty, and advanced studies for senior medical students. Other faculty contribute to major institutional committees in both research and education. Local departmental services continue to evolve, including an outstanding computational/IT and web team as well as several departmental research cores (Imaging and Histology, a Mechanical and Electronic Shop, Neural Culture, Molecular Neurobiology, Technology Development, Human Subjects, and Protein Analysis).
The Department’s outlook continues to benefit from, and be guided by, its growth trajectory and interactions with other departments and centers at the University. During the past few years we have succeeded in recruiting outstanding new faculty members, and have established remarkable strengths that are now quite visible to colleagues both within and beyond our borders.
I continue to be enthusiastic about the future of neuroscience at Rochester, and with the steady and tangible contributions made by our department. The compact and cooperative nature of our Medical Center and its location adjacent to the College campus comprises a rare attribute that we continue to exploit. We pride ourselves on our numerous interactive structures that bind neuroscientists across campus. This principle is clearly embodied in the Schmitt Program on Integrative Brain Research, now celebrating its tenth year of operation, linking major neuroscience structures in support of interdisciplinary research, research technology development, training opportunities at several levels (undergraduate and medical students as well as post-doctoral fellows), visiting professorships, and thematic symposia. In sum, our Department continues to enjoy a broad and outstanding intellectual and cultural dynamic. It is my honor as Chair to have helped nurture and promote this process, but it is the faculty, students, and staff that provide the talent and initiative that ensures our success and our future.