ASSOCIATION OF NEUROSCIENCE DEPARTMENTS AND PROGRAMS
SPRING MEETING SUMMARY
Georgetown University Conference Center
Washington, DC
APRIL 19-21, 1997

The Annual Spring Meeting of the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs was held from April 19 -21, 1997 at the Georgetown University Conference Center in Washington. The meeting began on Saturday with a workshop on minority recruitment. Organized by Joe L. Martinez, Jr., ANDP councilor (University of Texas, San Antonio), the session considered outcomes of the Minority Fellowship Program in Neuroscience and legal challenges to further efforts in affirmative action and the achievement of diversity in academic settings. Ivy M. Dunn (Northwestern University) discussed networking and institutional factors that can favor success in preparing a diversity of students and presented the 1997 Association for Ethnic Diversity in the Neurosciences (formerly Neuroscientists of Color), which she has helped to foster. An update on legal issues was presented by Renee M. Landers, Deputy General Counsel (Department of Health and Human Services).

The agenda for Sunday featured discussions of collaborations among funding agencies and among faculty of individual colleges and universities in efforts to optimize research and didactic education for undergraduate and graduate students in neuroscience. Programs that do and do not cross boundaries between neuroscience and areas such as molecular and cellular biology were contrasted as were programs conducted within or between departments, in a sense a reevaluation of neuroscience departments and programs was discussed.

Sunday's program began with an update on the ANDP Web site (www.andp.org) by Robert E. Fellows, ANDP past president (University of Iowa). He presented the project just underway to utilize the Web to conduct the third ANDP survey of programs and demographics and described the use of the Web site to present the book, Neuroscience Training Programs in North America, in an accessible, up-to-date way. Following that project was a session moderated by Robert W. Baughman (NINDS) on NIH's jointly sponsored predoctoral training program in the neurosciences, a collaboration among NIA, NICHD, NIDCD, NIDR, NIGMS, NIMH, NINDS and NINR. Also representing these institutes were Henry Khachaturian (NIMH) and Joseph Drage (NINDS). There was considerable interchange among the attendees as this topic was discussed. Joining this discussion on trends in training mechanisms and goals was Michael Oberdorfer (NEI).

The discussions of academic organizations and their alternatives for funding and conducting graduate programs were kicked off by R. Ranney Mize, ANDP president-elect (Louisiana State University Medical Center). James L. Roberts (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine) introduced discussion of alternate organizations of curriculum, and Dennison A. Smith (Oberlin College) anchored the presentation of complementing and overlapping issues for primarily undergraduate institutions. Smith also represented FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, of which he is president. Other contributing panelists were Nicholas C. Brecha (UCLA), George V. Rebec, ANDP treasurer (Indiana University) and Richard S. Lewis (Pomona College). Sunday was capped by a keynote address by Robert Pollack (Columbia University), titled Hard Days on the Endless Frontier, in which he explored personal and philosophical aspects of a changing research culture.

The meeting concluded on Monday with two sessions on the impact of Washington policy on neuroscience. Steven E. Hyman, director of NIMH, spoke on NIMH After One Year, leading a lively discussion on the future of agencies central to the missions in neuroscience. Finally, there was a session which was organized by Kathie L. Olsen, (National Science Foundation and the Office of Sen. Conrad Burns [R-Mont.]) on Policy and Process in the Government's Support of Research and Training in Science: Views from the Senate. Congressional staff members from authorization (Pat Windham), appropriations (Jack Chow) and an individual senator's office (Paul Van Remortel) gave an enlightening presentation on how legislation is created, debated and carved out of the legislative product that is the U.S. Government. Following tradition and the organization's mission, several ANDP representatives visited with elected officials and their staffs in the House and Senate to discuss issues concerning research and the education of the next generation of neuroscientists.