Training & Funding Opportunities

Training

The Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research recognizes the importance of training the next generation of researchers in neurodegenerative disease research and therefore offers a training program supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

"Training in Age Related Neurodegenerative Diseases" NIH/NIA AG0025
Program Director: Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD

This T32 Training Grant funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health mentors and educates young investigators to conduct research in age-related neurodegenerative diseases with a goal of supporting trainees as they develop into independent investigators in studies on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementias, motor neuron disease and related disorders.

The trainees are:

• Pre-doctoral Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students who have been admitted to a Penn PhD program to pursue thesis research in age-related neurodegenerative diseases;
• Scientists, physicians or veterinarians who have completed a Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M., M.D.-Ph.D. or D.V.M.-Ph.D. and wish to pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship in age related neurodegenerative diseases.

Trainees are given a solid background in basic and translational neuroscience as well as related disciplines in preparation for a career in research on neurodegenerative diseases as an independent investigator.

This program provides training and experience with many diverse techniques, methods and approaches to investigate basic and translational questions on age-related neurodegenerative diseases in the setting of a research academic medical center and university with a highly interactive group of trainers. Notably, Penn has an extensive didactic program in the neurosciences, pharmacology and other basic and translational disciplines focused on aging and the nervous system that can be individually tailored to the needs of each trainee as a supplement to the core research training provide by CNDR and the trainers in this T32.

Each trainee will undertake an independent project that will provide experience in the design and analysis of their experiments, and in the presentation and publication of the results they obtain from their studies. In addition to a weekly journal club, students, postdocs and staff members attend biweekly focus group meetings and present their work in informal lab meetings. The annual CNDR Retreat provides trainees with opportunities to hone their skills in making scientific presentations in a public but highly supportive scientific forum at Penn. Pre-doctoral students are enrolled in the Ph.D. programs in Neuroscience, Pharmacological Sciences, Cell and Molecular Biology, or Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and they progress through a thorough graduate level program prior to undertaking a thesis project.

Primary Trainers:

• Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Geoffrey K Aguirre, MD, PhD (Neurology)
• Dani S. Bassett (Bioengineering)
• F. Chris Bennett, MD (Psychiatry)
• Shelley Berger, PhD (Cell and Developmental Biology)
• Nancy Bonini, PhD (Biology)
• Anjan Chatterjee, MD (Neurology)
• Alice Chen-Plotkin, MD (Neurology)
• Beverly Davidson, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Roy Hamilton, MD, MS (Neurology)
• Erika Holzbaur, PhD (Physiology)
• David Irwin, MD (Neurology)
• Frances Jensen, MD (Neurology)
• Brad Johnson, MD, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Kelly L Jordan-Sciutto, PhD (Pathology in Dental Medicine)
• Dennis L. Kolson, MD, PhD (Neurology)
• Edward B Lee, MD, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Kelvin C. Luk, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Corey McMillan, PhD (Neurology)
• Zissimos Mourelatos, MD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• E James Petersson, PhD (Chemistry)
• Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, PhD (Epigenetics)
• Elizabeth Rhoades, PhD (Chemistry)
• Amita Sehgal, PhD (Neuroscience)
• James Shorter, PhD (Biochemistry/Biophysics)
• Christoff Thaiss, PhD (Microbiology)
• Li-San Wang, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
• Allison Willis, MD (Neurology)
• David Wolk, MD (Neurology)
• Sharon Xiangwen Xie, PhD (Biostatistics and Epidemiology)

To Apply

Interested candidates should send curriculum vitae and three letters of reference to:

Lisa Toole
Email: Lisa.toole@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Office phone: 215-662-4708

For additional training opportunities offered by the Penn U19: Center on Alpha-Synuclein Strains in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, click here.

Funding Opportunities

ADRC Developmental Projects

Each year, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) will fund up to two developmental projects, pending availability of funds, to support basic, translational or clinical research within the theme of heterogeneity in the Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) continuum.

Special emphasis will be given to projects that address the theme of AD heterogeneity, but consideration will also be given for projects that are more novel, offer an area of research underrepresented in the ADRC or at Penn, and are transdisciplinary, expanding the breadth of collaborations.

Learn more here.