Abstract
The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience was launched in the fall of 1999 with support from the National Science Foundation, the Georgia Research Alliance, and our eight participating institutions (Georgia State University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark-Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College). The CBN provides the resources to foster innovative research in behavioral neuroscience, with a specific focus on the neurobiology of social behavior. Center faculty working in collaboratories use diverse model systems from invertebrates to humans to investigate fear, aggression, affiliation, and reproductive behaviors. The addition of new research foci in reward and reinforcement, memory and cognition, and sex differences has expanded the potential for collaborations among Center investigators. Technology core laboratories develop the molecular, cellular, systems, behavioral, and imaging tools essential for investigating how the brain influences complex social behavior and, in turn, how social experience influences brain function.In addition to scientific discovery, a major goal of the CBN is to train the next generation of behavioral neuroscientists and to increase the number of women and under-represented minorities in neuroscience. Educational programs are offered for K-12 students to spark an interest in science. Undergraduate and graduate initiatives encourage students to participate in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional programs, while postdoctoral programs provide a bridge between laboratories and allow the interdisciplinary research and educational ventures to flourish. Finally, the CBN is committed to knowledge transfer, partnering with community organizations to bring neuroscience to the public. This multifaceted approach through research, education, and knowledge transfer will have a major impact on how we study interactions between the brain and behavior, as well as how the public views brain function and neuroscience.
Highlights
In addition to scientific discovery, a major goal of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) is to train the generation of behavioral neuroscientists and to increase the number of women and under-represented minorities in neuroscience
The CBN is committed to knowledge transfer, partnering with community organizations to bring neuroscience to the public
The director is assisted by three codirectors who oversee the directions and programs in research, education, knowledge transfer, and by an associate director who oversees the daily operations of the center
Summary
The organizational structure of the CBN is best illustrated in the diagram below (figure 1). With input from the membership as a whole, the co-director, deputy director and collaboratory heads determine what research should be supported directly by the center and work to encourage research in areas that they believe will best benefit the field in general. These become the research topics that are the focus of the "collaboratories." The co-director for education is assisted by the deputy director for education who oversees the daily operations of the center's various educational programs and assessment of these programs. Members should be committed to furthering the field of behavioral neuroscience in some manner consistent with the CBN's mission, and the only other requirement of membership is for individuals to provide information on their own research and educational activities for the center's annual report. Current membership in the center includes nearly 100 faculty, 20 postdocs and 50 graduate students representing all our member institutions, with the larger research-intensive institutions making up a significantly larger part of the membership
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