Neuroscience

[CoffeeCat]

Hello all...I have a few fairly broad questions about neuroscience research, if you don't mind. I'm trying to get more of a feel for the field:

1) What sort of research have you done in the neuroscience realm?

2) What sort of opportunities or exciting new research have you heard of?

3) What are the top programs?

Thanks!

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[dl2dp2]

Oh man I can go on and on about this.

Instead of asking us to write long polemics about neuroscience, I think it would be a better idea for you to contact professors in your institution about neuroscience. They can usually tell you what concurrent research is going on, and what are the institutions that have good programs for these research projects.

They'll also be more helpful in providing guidance for you on an individual basis. We cannot know through an annonymous forum about your background etc.

Good luck!

 

[Original]

I couldn't have said it better than Sluox did. However, keep one thing in mind when neuroscience profs recommend good programs for you. They might only be privy to the neuroscience research strengths of the different schools. But you should be looking for programs that have not only great neuro, but also a strong medical training. I think WashU gets the gold in neuro; though I'm not too sure. You can also consult the notorious U.S News graduate school rankings for a ranking of neuroscience programs across the country.

 

[Original]

Biological Sciences Specialties: Neuroscience
(New! Ranked in 2002*)

1. University of California?San Francisco
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Stanford University (CA)
4. Columbia University (NY)
Johns Hopkins University (MD)

I just copied and pasted the above from us news. You should check their website for their ranking criteria.

 

[BME02]

1) What sort of research have you done in the neuroscience realm?

I work with gene therapy for Parkinson's Disease and viral vectors. If you want more details feel free to PM me.

2) What sort of opportunities or exciting new research have you heard of?

I would echo what the previous posters have said. Really big topics right now are stem cells, gene therapy, signaling etc. I am particularly interested in apoptosis and its relavence to neurodegenerative disorders and cancer.

3) What are the top programs?

It really depends on what your specific interests are. I am partial to Wash U, as I will be going there next year. UCSD is also a powerhouse. Emory is great for neurodegenerative disorders. If you have more select interests perhaps we can give you some more guidence.

-BME02

 

[CoffeeCat]

Sorry for the broad questions - my main interest is neurodegenerative disorders and cancer with respect to microtubules. Right now I'm working with microtubule dynamics (and it's possible interaction with survivin) and also screening for possible anti-cancer drugs (two unrelated projects). I continue to be interested in microtubules and how they contribute to neurodegenerative disorders but want to keep my options open as far as possibilities within neuroscience. If anyone else would like to talk about their research, I think that would be very helpful.

 

[Sonya]

"WashU gets the gold"

hmm... I kindof doubt it. not sure.

Research i've done.. i'll keep it short, developing methods to measure forces put by growing neurons. (as undergrad) now: mechanisms of Pain, and measuring thresholds, and MRI stuff.

anyway, think of several school you might be considering, and get a description of all research professors do there. Most profs will have a short description of there research interests. i think that will give you an idea of what research goes on there.

Neuroscience is a HUGE field... anything somewhat related to the brain or a neuron cell. there is apparently something that interests you in neuroscience, and it probably is more specific than anything like the brain.
but often at our level, we can't say what specifically interest us. But, often we can realize something intersts us when we see it.

So get descriptions of different research going on at the school, and if a lot of profs are doing stuff of interest to you... that's a cue to look there.

umm, I'm doing research (in neuroscience) at northwestern now, full time. (i finished my undergrad at WashU). BTW, Northwestern has a HUGE neursoscience department. I'm guess ~ 150 profs in Neuroscience/related fields.
Washu is good, yes. It's is definetly a good school for research and medicine in general.

What's new?
I would say stuff along the lines of biophysics and BioEngineering tied to neuroscience, e.g. artificial hearing devices (brain stem implant, etc), and those devices for parkinsons.

But seeing you're more interested in the cell bio stuff, i wont elaborate on that too much. Considering that is your interest, I would say look into WashU more though. (my interest was quite a bit into the EE stuff and relating it to function of a complex interesting result: a functional nervous system, and WashU didn't, yet, have enough).

We all talked about our research to a good extent here:
<a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=37;t=000017" target="_blank">http://forums.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=37;t=000017</a>

(same forum : Pre MSTP, in the MD PHD wannabe... thread)
plenty of detail there, don't feel like re writing it.

Sonya

PS sorry if a disorganized and scattered.

 

[Street Philosopher]

I just wanted to say neuroscience is the shiznit. I'm so torn! Neuro PhD or MD? Damn.