NSF Award
1701894
The "Neurobiology of Drosophila: Genes, Circuits and Behavior" course (2017-2018) is an intensive advanced three week summer course taught by leading neuroscientists with extensive and complementary research experience studying brain function in this important model organism. The course is taught by lead instructors who remain at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) throughout the duration of the course together with teaching assistants from their laboratories. Twelve students will be selected from a pool of applicants largely on the basis of scientific merit. Course trainees include advanced graduate students (typically 70%), postdoctoral trainees (typically 25%) and junior faculty (5%) who are entering into neurobiological research using the fly model. Women and underrepresented minorities will be actively recruited. The course has a broad impact on the field in that students are chosen based in part on their potential for disseminating the acquired skills and knowledge at their home institutions. The course also provides instructors, assistants and guest lecturers with opportunities to explore new approaches and material for teaching neuroscience with Drosophila at their universities. Protocols developed in the course will reach an audience beyond the classroom through publication of laboratory manuals (Drosophila Neurobiology: A Laboratory Manual) and technique videos that will be made available on CSHL's E-Technical web resource. <br/><br/>The course consists of laboratory sessions led by 3 course directors and daily lectures presented by up to 20 leading experts in the field. The hands-on portion of the course is centered on inquiry-based projects, utilizing different morphological and physiological measurements and behavioral paradigms learned in the course. Specific techniques include molecular genetic analyses, quantitative neuroanatomy, computational modeling, recording of neural activity using electrophysiology and genetically encoded calcium indicators, optogenetic and thermogenetic control of neural activity, as well as numerous quantitative behavioral measures. Guest lecturers will divide their presentations into two parts. The first part will address the core neurobiological concepts and techniques they use in their own research, and the second part will focus on how their specific research fits into the field as a whole. Collectively, the course will provide a comprehensive and practical introduction to modern experimental methods for studying the neural basis of behavior in Drosophila. Long-term impact analysis demonstrates that this course enhances research productivity, builds collaborations, and reaches a broader audience through dissemination of protocols and approaches.
