Program Description
The Recovery
of Function program is composed of 14 core faculty from 7 departments
in 4 colleges located at Texas A&M University campus in College
Station. These faculty have a diverse set of research interests
that span the loss and recovery of neural function following injury,
infection, aging, and neurodegenerative disease in laboratory
animal models. In addition, the program is affiliated with several
off-campus research centers in Houston, Galveston, and Dallas
which focus on both laboratory and clinical research in this domain.
The interdisciplinary affiliations of the Faculty and their longstanding
collaborative interactions are focused on graduate training and
integrative research approaches. The training faculty foster integrative
cross-training experiences across laboratories to enable graduate
students to acquire cutting-edge techniques that span all levels
of analysis from cellular and behavioral.
The program enrolls
approximately 30 graduate students and offers numerous opportunities
for student collaboration with faculty. The student-faculty ratio
is roughly 2:1, which allows individualized attention to develop
research and/or professional skills. Admission to the Recovery
of Function training program requires approval by both the Recovery
of Function program and an affiliated academic department. Completion
of a dissertation is required for the Ph.D. degree through this
training program.
Areas of Expertise:
Research interests of Recovery of Function faculty center on 4
areas:
-
Neural Injury (Grau,
Miranda, Packard,
Setlow,
Sohrabji)
- Neuroimmunology
(Leibowitz,
Meagher, Storts,
J. Welsh, T. Welsh)
- Neurodegenerative
Disease (Abbott, Bazer,
Storts, Wells,
J.
Welsh)
-
Neural Plasticity and Aging (Abbott,Bizon,Griffith,Meagher,Packard,
Setlow,
Sohrabji)
Interdisciplinary
Approach: An interdisciplinary approach links researchers
across 7 departments:
Integrative
Research: The Recovery of Function faculty is engaged
in innovative research that span multiple levels of analysis,
from behavior to cells, proteins and genes. A sample of the approaches
taken include the study of:
- The behavioral and
immunological effects of environmental stressors on an animal
model of multiple sclerosis
- Therapeutic effects
of interferons (IFN-tau) on behavioral, histological, and immunological
markers in MS models
- Neuroimmunological
processes involved in demyelination and loss of motor function
- The impact of selective
neural damage on behavioral and cognitive function
- Factors that affect
the loss of neurons and function after spinal cord injury
- Behavioral treatments
that can promote recovery
- Gene expression
elicited by injury and neurodegenerative disease
- Loss of neural/cognitive
function with aging and Alzheimer's disease
- Hormonal/neurotrophin
regulation of neural plasticity and cell death
- Role of neuroinflammation
in the development of Parkinson's disease
Funding:
Research within the Recovery of Function Program is funded by
individual research projects from the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH), National Institute of Aging (NIA), and other agencies.
Current funding exceeds 7 million. Additional support from the
Life Sciences Training Program provides $200,000 to support graduate
training.
Funding for
Graduate Training: The Recovery of Function Program promotes
graduate training in the area through 3 mechanisms:
- A Life Science
Training Grant provides funding for up to 8 graduate students.
Students should apply to individual program departments and
express an interest in the Recovery of Function Program. Eligible
students are nominated to the program by participating faculty.
- Research grants
to Recovery of Function faculty provide support to students
who seek focused training in a specific area. Students should
apply to department programs, indicating an interest in working
with a recovery of function faculty member.
- Texas Consortium
in Behavioral Neuroscience supports both graduate and postdoctoral
training of individuals from under-represented populations (Hispanic,
African-American, Native-American). Eligible students should
apply to either the Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience Program
(contact Jim Grau) or the
Pharmacology Program (contact Bill
Griffith). Students should indicate an interest in being
funded through this source by contacting both faculty members.
Training Success:
Recent graduates of Recovery of Function faculty have
successfully competed for top post-doctoral positions and secured
positions at research-oriented universities.
Affiliated
programs: Graduate students gain further valuable experience
as members of several interdisciplinary programs, including the:
Recovery of Function
Research Facilities
Laboratory facilities
are excellent, including facilities designated for behavioral
neuroscience, surgery, histology, immunology, electrophysiology,
molecular biology, and gene array.
Office space is provided
for all graduate students. Microcomputers are readily available
for student use in laboratories and offices. The Texas A&M
Computing & Information Services Center maintains six large
computing centers connected by a campus-wide fiber optic network.
Texas A&M computing facilities are among the best in the nation.
Three libraries support
faculty and graduate student research. Evans Library holds more
than 2 million volumes and subscribes to over 14,000 journals.
The Medical Sciences Library is home to more than 100,000 volumes
and subscribes to over 2,000 journals. In addition, graduate students
and faculty have convenient web access to electronic delivery
of journal articles and book chapters.
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Key Contacts
Recovery
of Function Training Program Coordinator:
Dr.
Mary Meagher
Dept. of Psychology
Texas A&M University
4235 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4235
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