ASSOCIATION OF
NEUROSCIENCE DEPARTMENTS AND PROGRAMS
FALL MEETING SUMMARY
NOVEMBER 8, 2003
The
Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs held its
annual fall reception and meeting on Saturday, November 8,
during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New
Orleans.
The evening started with a
members’ business meeting, at which Treasurer Cheryl Sisk
presented a summary of the financial activities of the ANDP
during the previous year and Secretary Michael Lehman brought to
the group applications for membership from Molecular Medicine
Graduate Program/Program in Developmental Neurobiology at
Medical College of Georgia; the Neuroscience Center at Dartmouth
College, Dartmouth Medical School; and Stark Neuroscience
Research Institute at Indiana University School of Medicine.
All three applications were approved by formal vote, and
the ANDP is pleased to welcome these programs to active
participation in the association.
In addition, Dr. Chris Golde, from the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, provided a brief
update on the status of the Neuroscience component of the
Carnegie Initiative for the Doctorate, in which several ANDP
member programs are involved as Partners in developing new
approaches to teaching, training, and learning in neuroscience.
The major focus
of the meeting was the presentation of the 2003
ANDP Awards for
Education in Neuroscience to Dr. Joe Martinez, Jr. (Associate
Vice Provost for Research, Program Director of the Cajal
Neuroscience Research Center, and Ewing Halsell Professor of
Neuroscience at the University of Texas at San Antonio)
and Dr. James Townsel (Associate
Vice President for Research, Director of the Meharry/Vanderbilt
Alliance in Neuroscience Training Program, and Director of the
Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program at Meharry
Medical College). The
two men also are the Co-Directors of the Summer Program in
Neuroscience, Ethics, and Survival (SPINES) at the Marine
Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.
Both have had a tremendous impact on the training of
young neuroscientists, especially those from underrepresented
groups, not only through programmatic means but also through
intense personal mentoring and encouragement.
The full texts of the introductions of Dr.
Martinez by Dr. Thomas Fox (Harvard University) and of Dr.
Townsel by Dr. Barbara Talamo (Tufts Medical School) are
available on the ANDP website at http://www.andp.org.
Following short acceptance speeches by the awardees, Dr.
John Hildebrand (University of Arizona) gave a humorous summary
of the awardees’ contributions to neuroscience research and
education.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. George Rebec assumed the
presidency of the ANDP, Dr. Alison Hall became treasurer, Dr.
Hermes Yeh became councilor, Dr. Gerry Oxford became
president-elect, and Dr. Leslie Tolbert became past-president.
Dr. Hall was thanked for her insightful service as
councilor, Dr. Sisk was thanked for serving for two very
effective terms as treasurer, and Dr. Tolbert was recognized for
her extraordinary commitment in leading ANDP through another
successful year.
The annual ANDP Forum for students and postdoctoral trainees was
held on Monday Nov. 10, as part of the SFN meeting. The title of
this year’s Forum, organized by president-elect George Rebec,
was "Getting the Job You Want and Keeping It."
Discussants included Drs. Alan
Gittis (Westminster College), Janice Juraska (University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Eric Nisenbaum (Eli Lilly Company),
and Benjamin Walker (Georgetown University), representing the
differing perspectives of brand new and senior faculty at small
colleges, large research universities, and private industry.
In addition, Dr. Edward Stricker (University of
Pittsburgh, and a past president of the ANDP) presented data
from the most recent ANDP Survey of Neuroscience Programs that
were of special interest to trainees embarking on job searches.
A summary of the Forum can
be found on the ANDP website and information about the ANDP
survey will be available on the website in the near future.
Thanks to the donation of space
by the Society for Neuroscience, the ANDP for the first time had
a booth in the exhibitors’ hall, at which graduate students
and members of the ANDP executive committee provided information
about the association’s many activities and the benefits of
membership.
In addition, the ANDP again
collaborated with the SfN to host a Student Hospitality Room,
staffed by graduate-student volunteers. The room is a quiet
place set aside for students to relax, meet other students, and
share meeting notes.
The 2004 ANDP spring meeting will be held on May 1 - 2, 2004, at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland.
Please consult the ANDP website http://ww.andp.org
for meeting information and registration forms.
Leslie P. Tolbert, Ph.D.
Past President, ANDP
