Education & Training

People are at the heart of our Education & Training program at the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center. Since the NeuroDiscovery Center was launched in 2001, we have provided over $10 million in awards throughout the Harvard medical community. This funding has supported 1) collaborative research grants that bring together investigators from different institutions; 2) post-doctoral fellowships that foster young investigators and their research; 3) pre-doctoral training fellowships and MD/PhD fellowships that support the next generation of researchers; 4) sabbatical fellowships that bring new projects into the NeuroDiscovery Center's drug discovery program, and 5) innovation grants that support cutting-edge technological innovations.

Research grants and fellowship funding, awarded 2001-2005 by the primary institution of the recipients, is reflected below. Click here for a complete list of awardees. 

The NeuroDiscovery Education and Training Program continues to attract innovative and talented young scientists to our community. Future awards will be allocated to support doctoral level investigators seeking further training and experience in research approaches to neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, investigators launching truly innovative programs dedicated to translational neurodegenerative disease research are encouraged to contact us to discuss your ideas.

Training Courses

The NeuroDiscovery Center offers various training courses throughout the academic year. Emails will be distributed to Neurodiscovery members, please join the NeuroDiscovery Center if you haven't already done so.

December 12, 2009:
"CNS Stereotaxic & Microsurgical Approaches in the Rodent"

Instructors: Eiman Azim, Chee-Yeun Chung, Maria Galazo & Bradley Molyneaux
Faculty Hosts: Jeff Macklis

Stereotaxic surgery is required for many procedures involving disease modeling and substance delivery into the central nervous system (CNS). The special characteristics of the CNS require local, targeted delivery in most experimental paradigms, including cell replacement therapy, protein and gene delivery, tracing studies, and disease modeling. The first part of this course provides a comprehensive up-to-date discussion of stereotaxic systems, delivery systems, common tracers for individual neurons and circuitries, and preparation of cells for transplantation into brain and spinal cord. There will also be an introduction to methods for in utero surgery in the developing rodent CNS. In the second hands-on part, you will learn to use stereotaxic systems to effectively plan your targets (and hit them), how to choose critical parameters for the administration of fluids, and how to combine neuronal tracers in an effective way. You will also learn many technical tips for stereotaxic rodent surgery. Hands-on work will focus on adult rat, adult mouse, neonatal mouse, and embryonic mouse surgical approaches.

January 5, 2010:
"Imaging in Biology" presented by the HNDC Optical Imaging Program at the Harvard Extension School

Instructors: Lai Ding and Daniel Tom

Imaging technology has played an essential role in the history of biology. From the first microscopic cell image human beings "saw" through the microscope designed by Robert Hook in the seventeenth century to today's most sophisticated single-molecule images, evolving imaging technology has enabled scientists to make amazing discoveries. This course introduces students to the concepts and applications of the most commonly used imaging techniques in biomedical research and gives them hands-on experience using the equipment and software. Techniques covered include fluorescence microscopy, phase contrast microscopy, confocoal, and multiphoton microscopy. Other imaging techniques such as MRI, AFM and NMR are also discussed briefly.