New Program Unites Neuroscience Talent at Scripps Research

There's a new scene in town and it's called the Program in Neurosciences at The Scripps Research Institute. A pool of scientific talent rather than an administrative structure, the Program in Neurosciences will promote scientific exchange among its members and highlight the institute's strengths in this dynamic field.

"We have a remarkable breadth and depth of talent at Scripps Research in the area of neuroscience," said Professor Gerald Joyce, dean of the faculty. "The new Program in Neurosciences establishes an informal mechanism to tie together our neuroscientists to foster a broader exchange of scientific ideas, promote research collaborations, attract new sources of government and private funding, and facilitate the recruitment of new faculty to both campuses."

The new umbrella group encompasses the faculty in a number of departments at Scripps Research—the Molecular and Integrative Medicine Department (MIND), the Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, the Department of Neurobiology, and the budding neurosciences group at Scripps Florida—as well as other investigators with an interest in the field. With no director, the program will consist of a self-governing community of faculty members who will maintain current departmental affiliations.

Early initiatives for the group include an annual retreat in the neurosciences and a seminar series.

Joyce noted that collaborations within the Program in Neurosciences have the potential to facilitate funding by National Institutes of Health program project grants as well as by interested philanthropists. Collaborations also help provide access to the powerful resources available on both coasts. These include Scripps Florida's high-throughput screening center and close proximity to the nascent Max Planck Institute for Bioimaging, as well as Scripps California's Joint Center for Structural Genomics and Consortium for Functional Glycomics.

"I hereby declare that the Program in Neurosciences exists," said Joyce to a group of Scripps Research neuroscientists at a kick-off meeting March 26. "Now the program will be what you make of it."

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

"We have a remarkable breadth and depth of talent at Scripps Research in the area of neuroscience."

—Gerald Joyce