Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience

Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience Business Meeting 9/1/2011

Agenda • Elections • Policies • Program Status • Graduate Program • Finances • Last 4 & next 4 years • Welcome new Chair • COPD Meeting • Areas of Concentration

Election Results • Chair: Jane Welsh • vice-Chair: Farida Sohrabji (elected by EC) • Grad. Program Chair: Mike Smotherman • Grad. Program Committee: Gladys Ko and Thierry Lints • Membership Committee: Paul Hardin and Tim Cudd • Graduate Recruiting: Mary Meagher and Mark Harlow • Seminar Chair: Paul Wellman • Seminar Committee: Hubert Amrein and Reddy Samba • Undergrad. Chair: Louise Abbott • Undergrad. Committee: YoonsuckChoe and Michelle Hook • Finance Committee: Jim Grau and Rene Garcia

Election Results • Chair: Jane Welsh • Grad. Program Chair: Mike Smotherman • Grad. Program Committee: Gladys Ko and Thierry Lints • Membership Committee: Paul Hardin and Tim Cudd • Graduate Recruiting: Mary Meagher and Mark Harlow • Seminar Chair: Paul Wellman • Seminar Committee: Hubert Amrein and Reddy Samba • Undergrad. Chair: Louise Abbott • Undergrad. Committee: YoonsuckChoe and Michelle Hook • Finance Committee: Jim Grau and Rene Garcia

Executive Committee • Chair: Jane Welsh • vice-Chair: Farida Sohrabji (representing TAMHSC) • Graduate Program: Mike Smotherman (TAMU) and Farida Sohrabji (TAMHSC) • Membership: Ursula Winzer-Serhan • Graduate Recruiting: Gregg Wells • Seminar: Paul Wellman • Undergraduate Program: Louise Abbott • Finance: Mark Zoran • SFN Chapter President: Caurnel Morgan

Policies • The Vice Chair of the Faculty of Neuroscience will be elected annually by the Executive Committee (at the first meeting after September 1) from its membership. The Vice Chair will serve as chief officer of the Faculty of Neuroscience in the absence of the Chair or when designated by the Chair. To assure effective representation and oversight at both TAMU and TAMHSC, the Vice Chair should normally be selected from the system component not represented by the Chair.

Program Status • Senior hires • Psychology: Steve Maren (from U. Michigan) • VIBS: Joe Kornegay (from UNC) • Biology: interviewed Satchin Panda (Salk Institute) • Space: Housed on the third floor of the ILSB • Plus space for a dog facility (Kornegay) • Funded by the Chancellor

Graduate Program • 19 NRSC graduate students • Including 7 transfer students • 6 who entered in F10 • 6 who entered in F11 • one additional student (John Dickson) will start 1/12 • GRE: 584 (v), 717 (q), 1301 (total) • GPA: 3.6 • Diversity: 11 White-NH, 5 Asian, 3 Hispanic, 1 Black-NH • Male/Female: 11/8 • TAMU/TAMHSC: 15/4 • Departments: 8 PSYC, 4 NExT, 3 BIOL, 1 VIBS, 2 NFSC, 2 ??

Graduate Recruiting • Working to advertise program to enhance applications and diversity • 126 Minors • Developing a certificate program Undergraduate Program

Finances Additional Sources: 5 Heep Fellowships (@$30,000/yr. plus tuition, fees, & health) 9-10 Maximum TAMHSC graduate funding: Years 1 & 2 (plus tuition, fees [yr 1] & health)

Estimated Expenditures (F12)

Grant Funding Up from $50,000,000 in 2009/2010

Last 4 Years • 2007 • Undergraduate minor established in 2007 • 2008 • Spring-Memorandum of Understanding between TAMU and HSC • Fall-External review of the graduate program • 2009 • Spring: Selected as one 8 interdisciplinary programs for funding (IUMRI) • Late Spring: Graduate program approved by the Coordinating Board • Fall: First transfer students enter the Neuroscience program • 2010 • Late Winter: IUMRI funded, with three senior positions in Neuroscience • Spring: Heep Fellowships provided to Neuroscience for graduate recruiting • Summer: Began recruiting for senior positions • Fall-First graduate class in Neuroscience • Late Fall-Hired administrative staff • 2011 • Spring: Recruited Maren and Kornegay for senior positions • Spring: Secured resources needed to complete ILSB space for senior hires

Next 4 years (by 2015) Marker for Success and Achievement(from VPR Implementation Plan, March 2010) 1. Neuroscience currently accounts for approximately 14% of the NIH funds awarded to Texas A&M University and the Health Science Center. Our goal over the next five years is to increase this to 18%. This will require increasing net support by 28%, from $50 million to $64 million. 2. Scholarship among current neuroscientists is strong, with an average of 2.5 articles per year. In five years, we aim to move this average to three articles per year, with an increased emphasis on reaching the top-tier journals (e.g., Nature, Science, Neuron, Journal of Neuroscience). 3. Our graduate program should have nearly 25 students within five years (perhaps more, if funding allows) and approximately 80-160 undergraduate minors. Within five years, we will offer a new undergraduate major in Neuroscience. 4. Top-tier research programs maintain a high proportion of postdoctoral trainees. Over the next five years, we hope to increase the number of post docs by 36%, from 22 to 30. 5. College- and department-level support will be demonstrated through both their continued financial support of the program and through increased hiring in the area of Neuroscience. Fueled by an agreement with the VPR to provide increased support for start-up costs, we envision continued hiring at the assistant professor level. This, coupled with our efforts to reach out to additional faculty in areas such as bioengineering and biostatistics, should bolster our faculty by 20% by 2015.

THANKS! • Mary Meagher • Sylvia Bernal • EC: Mike, Fardia, Ursula, Gregg, Jane, Louise • Mark Zoran and Bill Griffith • Jen B., Barry S., Danna Z. • Caurnel Morgan, Rachel Hull • Candi LaSarge, Sarah Woller, Robyn Balden

More Thanks (TAMIN White Paper)

Welcome Jane Welsh • Plans for upcoming year • COPD Meeting and Administrative Issues • Areas of Concentration

TAMIN Administrative Structure: Oversight TAMU Vice President for Research Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies (TAMU) HSC Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies TAMU/HSC Council of Participating Deans Assistant Vice President Advisory Board: Department Heads Executive Committee: TAMIN Chair: TAMIN • Finance Committee • Graduate Program Committee • Membership Committee • Recruiting Committee • Seminar Committee • Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Administrative Coordinator: TAMIN Other Office Staff: TAMIN Faculty: TAMIN

TAMIN Administrative Structure: EC & Committees TAMIN Chair: Jane Welsh (Director) co-Chair: Farida Sohrabji (TAMHSC) Admin. Asst.: Sylvia Bernal Membership Committee Chair: Ursula Winzer-Serhan Finance Committee Chair: Mark Zoran Graduate Program (IDP) Dir. (TAMU): Mike Smotherman Dir. (TAMHSC): Farida Sohrabji Advisor: Sylvia Bernal Undergraduate Program Dir.: Louise Abbott Advisor: Sylvia Bernal Graduate Recruiting Chair: Gregg Wells Seminar Committee Chair: Paul Wellman

Areas of Concentration • Aging — cognitive deficits with aging, Alzheimer’s • Biological Rhythms and Sleep Disorders — fatigue, biological clocks • Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience — neuropsyc., emotion, human imaging, aesthetics • Computational Neuroscience — computational neuroanatomy, neural networks • Drugs and Addiction — neuropharmacology, nicotine, alcohol, opiates, stimulants • Injury and Repair — spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation, regeneration • Learning, Development and Genetic Disorders — ADHD, autism, learning disabilities • Neurogenetics — gene arrays, gene targeting, transgenic approaches, gene therapy • Neuroendocrine Function and Sexual Behavior — reproductive behavior, sex differences • Neuroimmunology and Degenerative Processes — M.S., cell death, neurotoxicology • Social Neuroscience — animal communication, language, motivation • Structural and Cellular Neuroscience — cell signaling, electrophysiology • Translational Neuroscience — experimental and natural models of clinical disorders

Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience