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!