ASSOCIATION OF NEUROSCIENCE DEPARTMENTS AND PROGRAMS
SPRING MEETING SUMMARY
Marriott Metro Center Hotel
Washington, DC
MAY 2-4, 1998

ANDP Spring Meeting Draws Large Audience to Discuss the Internet, Graduate School Restructuring, Federal Funding Increases

The annual Spring meeting of the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs was held at the Marriott Metro Center Hotel in downtown Washington, DC from May 2-4, 1998. The theme was "Research and Graduate Education in the 21stCentury." The meeting began with a report to the membership from ANDP President R. Ranney Mize about new ANDP initiatives, including the graduate student jobs workshops, the post-doctoral/institutional membership category, and the international affiliates listing on the ANDP Web site. Reports were also made by Treasurer Dr. George Rebec, Secretary Dr.Barbara Talamo, and President-elect Dr. Rob Milner). The business meeting was followed by the keynote address from Dr. Gerald Fischbach, Harvard University Medical School. The evening concluded with a food and wine reception sponsored by local neuroscience programs at Geroge Mason, Georgetown, and George Washington Universities, the National Institute of Mental Health, Uniformed Services University, and the University of Maryland.

The Sunday morning session, "Electronic Teaching and Publishing," focussed on the impact of the Internet and computer-aided instruction upon teaching and publishing in neuroscience. Dr. Nello Spiteri of Elseiver Science Publishers used an on-line Internet connection to demonstrate electronic resources available from Elsevier, including a new push technology, Neuronline. Dr. Graham Lees of Academic Press discussed the financial implications of electronic publication. Dr. James Roberts of Mt. Sinai introduced the contents of the new textbook, Fundamental Neuroscience, which has been written in association with ANDP. Dr. Robert Fellows of the University of Iowa then demonstrated features of the ANDP WEB site, including the electronic version of the Neuroscience Training Programs of North America. Dr. Jerome Kassirer, editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, closed the session with a discussion of ethical and practical issues created by the electronic publishing.

The Sunday afternoon session, "Restructuring Graduate Schools and Universities," dealt with ideas about how to reorganize graduate programs, medical schools and universities and the impact of health care reform and dwindling university budgets. Contrasting points of view were offered. Dr. Susan Gerbi of Brown University presented conclusions from the FASEB Consensus Report on Graduate Education, including the position that graduate school admissions should not be limited because future manpower needs in biomedical science are difficult to predict. Dr. Alan Shipp of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) described the Graduate Research, Education and Training (GREAT) initiative of AAMC. Dr. Robert Jones, also of AAMC, presented data on the need for faculty performance review and tenure reform imposed by financial pressures faced by medical schools. Dr. Levi Watkins, associate dean of postdoctoral programs at Johns Hopkins University, discussed the difficulties faced by postdoctoral students in science, including job security, governance, appointment status, and health care.

Presenter Dr. Robert Miller of the University of Minnesota described the "battles" surrounding Board of Regents efforts to reform tenure in that state's institutions of higher education. Dr. Don Faber of Allegheny University of the Health Sciences discussed the impact of health care reform and a medical school merger upon the training and research environment of basic science departments at Allegheny. Drs. Pat Levitt and Edward Stricker of the University of Pittsburgh illustrated how a multidisciplinary neuroscience training program can be effectively organized within the framework of a traditional departmental structure. The session concluded with a roundtable discussion of issues in which William Brinkley, president-elect of FASEB, participated with the afternoon’s speakers.

The featured speaker at the Sunday evening ANDP banquet was Dr. David Cohen of Columbia University, who was introduced by Dr. Lorne Mendell, former president of ANDP and current president of the Society for Neuroscience. Dr. R. Ranney Mize, ANDP president, presented Dr. Cohen with the first Distinguished Service Award of ANDP for his service as founding member and first President of the Association.

The Monday morning session, "Science Research Infrastructure," dealt with alternative approaches to conducting biomedical research in the United States, including basic versus clinical emphases, fundamental versus translational goals, competitive versus cooperative environments, and the financial resources and constraints imposed by different organizational structures. Dr. David Clayton of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute described the mechanisms of support provided by HHMI within traditional university settings. Dr. Dorothy Gallaher of Neurogen Corporation discussed the environment and goals of research in the biotechnology sector. Dr. Enrico Mugnaini of Northwestern University showed how an Institute of Neuroscience functions within a research university that spans two campuses. Dr. Michael Gottesman discussed current and future initiatives of the intramural research programs at the National Institutes of Health, including a new Ph.D. program that will focus upon clinically oriented translational research. Dr. Ed Kravitz of Harvard University then presented seven modest proposals for funding biomedical research using the traditional NIH R01 mechanism. The session concluded with a description of RO1 and other NIH funding mechanisms presented by Dr. Connie Atwell, Acting Deputy Director of NINDS.

The meeting concluded with a working luncheon that included presentations of training and research program initiatives at various federal agencies, including the National Institute of Mental Health (Dr. Richard Nakamora), National Science Foundation (Dr. Kathie Olsen), Center for Scientific Review (Brent Stanfield), National Institute of Aging (Dr. Judith Finkelstein), the Integrated Neuroscience Training Programs (Dr. Walter Goldschmidts) and the National Eye Institute (Dr. Michael Oberdorfer).

Corporate and organization sponsors of this year's meeting were Academic Press, FASEB Fitzgerald Publishers, Elsevier Science Publishers, MIT Press, and the Society for Neuroscience.

R. Ranney Mize, Ph.D.
President, ANDP