BBTAD Training Program

Core Curriculum

The research experiences provided for Trainees are augmented by participation in more structured experiences. These more structured experiences consist of several seminars series designed especially for the Trainees in the BBTAD Training Program.

Core Proseminar. The Core Proseminar will meet bimonthly, for 2.5 hours, throughout the academic year. Each Core Proseminar session is led by a member of the BBTAD Training Faculty. In preparation for the proseminar and small-group discussion, an overview article is distributed. The Core Proseminar series provides Trainees an opportunity to learn about and discuss a broad array of findings, theories, and methods with scholars who are at the forefront of advances in biological and behavioral approaches to typical and atypical development. Topics rotate on a two-year basis, and each trainee attends the Core Proseminar series for two years of their training period.

Faculty Development Seminar Series. This seminar series comprises a series of 90-minute meetings designed to assist the Trainees in preparing for their first faculty positions. Each seminar is led by one or more BBTAD Training Faculty members. All Trainees, and a small number of advanced graduate students, attend. Two seminars are held during each academic year and are rotated every three years.

Research Ethics Seminar Series. This seminar series, hosted by the Waisman Center, comprises a series of 90-minute meetings designed to integrate research ethics training to five existing training programs (T32s) affiliated with the Waisman Center. Two seminars are offered per semester; eight seminars currently exist covering the following topics: (1) informed consent and assent in vulnerable populations; (2) ethical issues in stem cell research and neonatal screening; (3) authorship and intellectual property; (4) inter-institutional and international research; (5) HIPAA regulations; (6) participant payment and recruitment; (7) conflict of interest; and (8) ethical treatment of non-human animal subjects. Each seminar is structured as an interactive panel discussion, involving a panel of members of the faculty of the participating training programs. Readings and case studies are made available to Trainees prior to each seminar. BBTAD Trainees are required to attend eight different seminars over the span of their traineeship.

Formal Courses. Trainees take advantage of existing courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to further bolster their knowledge of biological or behavioral approaches to atypical or typical behavior. The courses taken are determined in consultation with the Primary Mentor and are formalized as part of the trainee's annual Plans and Goals Statement. It is expected that each trainee will take no more than one formal course per semester.

Week-long Training Workshop. A final component to each trainee's Core Curriculum is attendance at a week-long training workshop, typically during each trainee's first summer in the program. The purpose of these workshops is to provide in-depth training in a method (e.g., the fMRI training workshops) or a theoretical approach (e.g., the Dartmouth Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience). As with other aspects of the BDAT Training Program, each trainee selects a week-long workshop in consultation with his or her Primary Mentor.

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Illustrative List of Formal Courses

The courses listed below are grouped under four categories: (1) primarily biological content; (2) a blend of behavioral and biological content; (3) primarily behavioral content; and (4) primarily statistics, biological imaging, or other methodology. This list is representative rather than comprehensive; for instance, ten graduate courses covering the foundations of clinical psychology are not listed. Course instructors in bold font are among the BBTAD Postdoctoral Training Faculty.

1. Graduate Courses with Primarily Biological Content

2. Graduate Courses with a Blend of Biological and Behavioral Content

3. Graduate Courses with Primarily Behavioral Content

4. Courses in Statistics, Biological Imaging, or Other Methodology

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Illustrative Week-Long Training Workshops

John Merck Fund Summer Institute on the Biology of Developmental Disabilities

The annual John Merck Fund Summer Institute on the Biology of Developmental Disabilities is held for one week each summer. In 2003 and 2004, the location was Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey; in 2001 and 2002, the location was Cold Spring Harbor. The course examines basic principles of behavior, brain function and organization in the context of typical and atypical development. Attention and learning were the specific focus of the 2004 institute. Experts in the fields of psychology, neurobiology, neuroendocrinology and neuroscience present their work in addition to hands-on workshops on brain imaging, genetics and modeling methods. The institute is geared toward predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows.

Summer Institute In Cognitive Neuroscience

The Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience has been held for 18 years at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. The two-week course examines how information about brain structure and function interacts with issues in cognitive sciences and how approaches in cognitive science apply to other forms of neuroscience research. In 2005, issues in brain plasticity and flexibility and constraint during development will be studied. A distinguished faculty will lecture on current topics. Laboratories and demonstrations will provide practical experience with methods in anatomy and functional imaging and their application to issues in cognitive neuroscience. Applications are invited from beginning and established researchers.

The Visiting Fellowship Program in Functional MRI (MGH)

The Visiting Fellowship Program in Functional MRI is offered three times per year in Charlestown (5 minutes from Boston), Massachusetts. It is sponsored by the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the MGH-NMR Center. The program is a 5-day intensive workshop. Participants attend lectures, have ample time for informal discussion with the lecturers, attend a "demonstration" fMRI experiment, get some hands-on experience with data analysis, design a group fMRI experiment, and implement, execute, and analyze the data from that experiment. The registration fee is $1200. The main focus is on the basics of the physics, experimental design, and data analysis of fMRI-based experiments. It serves as a rapid and thorough introduction to people new to the field, who are considering active research or are planning and carrying experiments based on fMRI. Many laboratories have found this an efficient way to get new people started (in contrast to having to wait for a full semester's normal academic program). Participants with a modest amount of experience in an fMRI-based laboratory, and who are ready for a more thorough presentation of the foundations, also report getting a great deal from the program. The emphasis continues to be on theoretical basics, with hands-on experimental design workshops and detailed discussion of issues associated with data analysis and data-analysis-software packages.

Introductory Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Medical College of Wisconsin)

This three-day workshop, sponsored by the MCW General Clinical Research Center, is designed to introduce the basic and clinical researcher to the theoretical and practical issues involved in conducting Functional MRI experiments. Participants will gain an understanding of the physiological principles underlying the FMRI signal change, as well as the theoretical and practical considerations in research design. The course will include firsthand exposure to the scanning environment and data collection procedures. Participants will be provided conceptual and hands-on experience with data treatment and statistical analysis. At the completion of this course, it is expected that participants will be better prepared to critique, design, and conduct FMRI studies; appreciate limitations and potentials of current FMRI technology and techniques; and better understand the expertise required to establish an FMRI research program. Course material will be presented in the form of lectures, problem-based learning activities, involvement in an actual FMRI scanning session, and instruction in the use of FMRI analysis software. Extensive handouts will be provided. The course is designed to provide the participant with intensive, hands-on instruction. As a result, enrollment in the course will be limited to 45 people.

Pittsburgh Mind-Body Summer Institute

The Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center offers an annual summer institute. Each institute is directed toward an audience of professionals who have a limited background in health psychology and behavioral medicine. Lectures and workshops are geared toward individuals at the postdoctoral fellow, resident, and/or young faculty level. The 2005 Summer Institute, "Sleeping, Eating, and Physical Activity: A Focus on Health Behavior," will be held on June 8-11, 2005 and will focus on behavioral medicine interventions. The themes for the summer institutes alternate each year. The first Summer Institute on the "Basic Pathways Linking Behavior and Disease" was held in July 2000. This theme was offered again in 2002 and 2004. The 2001 Summer Institute focused on "Behavioral Medicine Interventions." This theme was offered a second time.

Molecular Approaches to Neuroscience: Gene Expression and Cell Analysis

Molecular Approaches to Neuroscience: Gene Expression and Cell Analysis is held for one week every summer at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute in Madison, WI. The lecture portion of the course will cover topics such as principles of nucleic acid analysis for gene expression, principles of RNA isolation and quantitation techniques, principles and methods of cell bases analysis, and more. An intensive laboratory portion of the course provides participants the opportunity to perform key techniques introduced by the lectures. After completing the course the attendees will be able to describe the basic concepts and principles of molecular and cell analysis, perform certain molecular methods and cell-based assays, and identify the material resources required for performing the methods in your laboratory. The lecture and laboratory portions of the course are conducted by scientists from the Promega Corporation. Graduate students, postdoctorates, principal investigators, and industry employees are encouraged to attend.

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