UMA Neuroscience Strategic Planning Report #1
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UMA Neuroscience Strategic Planning Report #1
Abstract
The Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force, reporting to CNS Dean Goodwin,
surveyed the current strengths of neuroscience research and facilities at UMA. We identified
strategies for growth to fully realize existing national and state opportunities in neuroscience
discovery and application. Strengths of UMA neuroscience include: 1) an unusually rich
environment for joining the basic science and pre-clinical investigations of UMA neuroscience to
translational applications through collaborations with the Institute of Applied Life Sciences and
UMass Medical School; 2) a focus to connect with industry, utilizing the expertise of the UMass
Innovation Institute and the CNS and IALS Industry Advisory Boards; 3) a strong commitment
from CNS and from IALS for growth in neuroscience faculty and programs, in part enabled by
the significant investment in managed Core Facilities enabling novel human behavior and
disease focused research programs; 4) a long-standing interdisciplinary graduate program and
well-developed plan for a new undergraduate neuroscience major capitalizing on new faculty and
facilities; 5) a distinctively collaborative approach to research across labs, enabling the creative
investigation of scientific and translational questions from multiple levels of analyses (e.g. at the
level of the cell, the neuronal system or circuitry, and the organism’s learning and behavior).
Recommendations for consideration include the establishment of a broad-based interdisciplinary
UMA Neuroscience Institute and assessing the long-term feasibility of consolidated laboratory
space within a new Neuroscience Research Building.
December 18, 2014
Submitted by: UMA Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force (see Appendix A for
membership)
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UMA Neuroscience Strategic Planning Report
December 14, 2014
“In April 2013, President Obama unveiled the Brain Initiative, a coordinated
effort among public and private institutions and agencies aimed at revolutionizing
our understanding of the human brain.... Within the wider community beyond
NIH there has.. been recognition that recent technical advances have brought
neuroscience research to a watershed moment. “(2013 - NIH Blueprint for
Neuroscience Research)
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, which provides a functional
account of the biological basis for behavior, learning, mental health, and a multitude of
neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s which will have a huge
impact on healthcare systems over the next few decades. It is an interdisciplinary science that
cuts across the boundaries of biology, psychology, biochemistry and molecular biology,
chemistry, physics, computer science, chemical and mechanical engineering, and others. The
dramatic development of new techniques in each of these disciplines for understanding the brain
are revolutionizing the potential for basic science discoveries and illuminating applications to
health, education, behavioral economics, and public policy. Nationally, neuroscience is a primary
target for increases in federal and foundation research funding. In 2012, the Commonwealth
formed the Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium in partnership with seven global
biopharmaceutical companies. The Consortium funds pre-clinical neuroscience research at
Massachusetts academic and research institutions. Clearly, industry is attracted to partnering
with institutions of higher education to translate basic neuroscience into health and business
applications. The UMass System Life Sciences Strategic Plan (UMass Life Sciences Task Force,
2014) lists fourteen areas of basic science research as designated areas of “strategic opportunity,”
and all fourteen include vibrant connections to neuroscience. Our campus expertise and graduate
program in neuroscience and the collaborative context provided by the new Institute for Applied
Life Sciences (IALS), University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), neuroscience
program and departments of neurology and neurobiology, and the University of Massachusetts
Innovation Institute (UMII) provide a unique opportunity to make our campus a “partner of
choice” for the Commonwealth, industry, and for the federal government’s investments in
neuroscience research and training.
This report outlines the initial process of strategic planning for the growth of
neuroscience at UMA, existing strengths in neuroscience, opportunities for the future of
neuroscience across UMA, and next steps to further strategic planning and effective investment.
Strategic Plan Charge and Planning Process
Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force
Charge. In July 2014, the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences charged a faculty task
force to develop a strategic vision for neuroscience on the UMA campus, with both immediate
and longer-term objectives. The task force canvassed all stakeholders, solicited feedback
particularly from all neuroscientists on campus, and in this way identified key issues, and, and
initiated discussions with existing and potential collaborative partners on possible future
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directions and strategies for an effective investment allowing the growth of a vibrant, refocused
neuroscience effort at UMA.
The outcome of task force deliberations begins with this report. The task force will
continue to develop a strategic plan throughout the spring of 2015, which will guide coordinated
planning and investment in building neuroscience research and education at UMA.
Membership. Members represented each of the major substantive levels of current
UMA neuroscience research (cellular/molecular; systems/circuitry; and behavior/cognition),
included assistant, associate, and full professors, and represented four departments in CNS and
the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS), as well as IALS.1
Task Force Activities. The Task Force has been active since August 2014, meeting to
discuss key issues and conduct the following activities:
Survey of UMA neuroscientists. To understand of the interests of the neuroscience
community, a computerized survey was distributed among neuroscience research groups at
UMA. Thirty respondents out of 37 polled neuroscientists provided input that highlighted a
number of issues including: research areas that should be emphasized in future growth, the extent
of collaboration among neuroscientists, opportunities for federal funding for research and
training, facility needs, relative emphasis of basic and translational research, and interest in
broadening and strengthening ties to groups outside the core faculty currently in neuroscience.
This broader UMA neuroscience community became energized by the opportunity to provide
input to the current strategic planning process for neuroscience on campus and met several times
with members of the task force to discuss the results of the survey and to share ideas regarding
next steps. There was broad agreement that the community should now pursue a vision and
integrative plan for neuroscience on campus, and the strengths and opportunities for
development outlined below include areas of consensus from these broad-based discussions.
Meetings with collaborative constituencies. The task force met with several groups and
individuals on campus who we thought might have an interest in contributing to planning for
neuroscience growth at UMA. At each meeting with these potential collaborative constituencies,
the Task Force discussed the goals of creating a strategic plan for growth in neuroscience at
UMA. These meetings focused particularly on identifying opportunities for expanded
collaborations and identifying challenges that exist to broadening neuroscience collaborations on
and off campus. Meetings were held with Peter Reinhart, Director of IALS, Jim Capistran,
Director of the UMass Innovation Institute, Loren Walker, Director of Office of Research
Development, and with faculty members Elizabeth Connor (Biology) and Lori Astheimer (PBS),
who lead the group that has formulated a proposal for an undergraduate neuroscience major.
Meetings with additional groups (detailed below in ‘Next Steps’ section) are planned for the
spring semester.
Existing UMA Strengths
UMass currently has a strong foundation and commitment to neuroscience, organized
chiefly through the interdisciplinary Neuroscience & Behavior (NSB) graduate program that
draws on faculty from seven departments, as well as the four colleges in the Five-College
community. With over 37 faculty and 31 graduate students already engaged in the discipline,
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See Appendix A for Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force membership.
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this interdisciplinary structure provides a strong framework on which to expand upon existing
strengths to push UMA to the forefront of pioneering neuroscience efforts.
Neuroscience faculty at UMA are leaders in cellular/molecular, systems/circuits, and
behavioral/cognitive approaches. A primary and distinguishing strength of UMA faculty is an
unusual emphasis on collaboration among research labs across a broad range of taxa, levels of
biological organization (cell/molecular; systems/circuits; behavior/cognition), and neurobehavioral questions. Obviously no single researcher or laboratory is fully integrative across all
sub-disciplines. However, by emphasizing an integrative neuroscience framework, UMA
neuroscientists have increased their chances to capitalize on insights that come from working
across levels of analysis, enabling novel approaches that can lead to a more complete
understanding of exceptionally important issues---including identified neurological diseases and
disorders as well as the structure and foundations for learning and health.
Research Areas:
Cellular/Molecular Research. Neuroscience has benefitted greatly from an ongoing
revolution in techniques for measuring and manipulating molecules in single brain cells, a.k.a.
neurons and glia. These two cell types are the basic unit of computation in the brain, and a good
deal of the cellular/molecular neuroscience research on campus is focused on monitoring and
perturbing the activity of single cells and their synaptic connections. The cellular/molecular level
of analysis is therefore essential for understanding basic and translational phenomena in
neuroscience and this level receives substantial support from federal, foundation and private
sources. Cellular and molecular neuroscience has not been a historical position of strength at
UMass, but recent hires in several departments reflect the growing demand for researchers with
expertise and potential for neuroscience collaboration in medicinal chemistry, biophysics,
computational biology, and molecular genetics. A substantial group of researchers in this area is
focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that guide formation of the
brain and nervous system during embryogenesis, extending to adult neural regeneration and
degenerative disease research (see information on the neural development and degeneration
group, ‘Neural D2’, below under connections to ‘IALS’). Importantly, the majority of the
breakthroughs in contemporary neuroscience incorporate cross-disciplinary research that relies
heavily on approaches and technologies at the cellular and molecular level of analysis. Current
capabilities on campus include numerous shared microscopes for wide field, confocal, and single
molecule florescent imaging as well as specialized patch clamp electrophysiology rigs for a
range of study from ion channels to brain slices. The cellular/molecular level of analysis will
continue to receive substantial benefit from the recent UMass designation as a Nikon Center of
Excellence (within IALS) with state-of-art imaging techniques and well-trained supporting
personnel from the leading manufacturer of microscopes used in neuroscience and physiology
research. In this imaging center, the campus will welcome its first multi-photon microscope,
which allows neurobiologists to conduct live imaging in vivo at the cellular and subcellular level.
We see exceptional areas of growth for UMA neuroscience here in the realms of RNA dynamics,
cellular imaging, and ion channel biophysics. This area is also rich for cross-pollination and
collaboration of the UMA neuroscience community with IALS and the UMass Medical campus.
Systems/Circuits. The level of systems and circuit neuroscience is at the interface
between cells and behavior. This level of analysis at UMA is represented by a broad group of
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researchers working in a variety of model species, including rats, mice, hamsters, songbirds, and
zebrafish. This diversity is a function of the unique opportunities afforded by each model system
for approaching interconnected neural circuits across the functional organization of the brain
(e.g., the spinal cord in zebrafish vs. the prefrontal cortex in rats). Research in this area draws
upon the most advanced techniques in the field including electrophysiology, imaging,
pharmacology, optogenetics, molecular genetics, a variety of neuroanatomical techniques and a
variety of behavioral techniques (methods of observing behavioral ‘readouts’ of the brain’s
systems processes. This group has historically been exceptionally strong in neuroendocrinology
and in elucidating the mechanisms and role of sex differences in the brain. The interplay between
hormones and the brain has also become an important opportunity for translational neuroscience
research, and the systems neuroscientists are poised to build on the historical strengths in this
area. For example, analysis of sex differences has garnered a great deal of interest from the
federal government because of the proposed initiative of the NIH to require analysis of both
sexes in all animal experiments. The pharmaceutical industry is also becoming more interested
in this type of work, as it is becoming increasingly important to develop drugs that are genderspecific. It has become abundantly clear that one size (gender) does not fit all in determining
efficacy of pharmaceutical compounds. Moreover, the broader systems/circuits neuroscience
group has capabilities via optogenetics and pharmacogenetics to follow and precisely perturb the
activity of interconnected neural circuits in behaving animals. The funding record of this group
continues to be strong, and the recent initiatives by the US government, private foundations, and
biopharma directed explicitly at this level of analysis foretell a bright future.
The systems neuroscientists employ a mixture of modern light and fluorescent
microscopy, electrophysiological, and biochemical techniques, but they suffer insofar as some of
them are working in antiquated laboratories in Tobin, Lederle, and Morrill. Although two of the
newly hired assistant professors in neuroscience have laboratories in LSL I, this puts them at a
distance from most of the other faculty members in the group working on Systems/Circuits and
from other members of the larger neuroscience community. The synergism that we can expect
when neuroscience faculty members interact and collaborate will not be realized until these
neuroscientists have modern laboratories in close proximity to each other and to other life
scientists. We see exceptional areas of growth for UMA neuroscience here in the realms of
integrative systems neuroscience, neuroendocrinology/neuromodulation, and
social/computational approaches, bolstered by investments in facilities and instrumentation in
next-generation imaging (stereology), 3D printing, bioengineering, fabrication, computation, and
two-photon electrophysiology.
Behavior/Cognition. The functional significance of any neuroscience research is
ultimately the output of the nervous system, namely behavior and cognition as well as its impact
on mental and physical health outcomes. Understanding the neural and physiological
mechanisms that give rise to behavior and cognition across the lifespan from infancy to
adulthood is a core strength of the UMA neuroscience community. This large and vibrant group
of researchers is a growing presence in the global neuroscience community, and includes a
variety of approaches, from model systems to work with healthy and clinical human
populations. The specific areas of cognitive, developmental, clinical, and social human
neuroscience are currently very well represented on campus and include researchers across the
departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Linguistics, Communication Disorders,
Computer Science, and Kinesiology. These faculty conduct innovative human research in
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infants, children, adults, and clinical/patient populations with funding from NIH, NSF, the US
Army, and foundations. Current methodological strengths among the group include: 1) human
electrophysiology (EEG/ERP) to examine neural activity and biomarkers linked to adult and
child cognition and social processing as well as risk for mental health outcomes (e.g. ADHD and
Alzheimer’s disease), 2) high temporal resolution eye-tracking to unpack the underlying
mechanisms of visual processing and its role in reading and perceptual learning, 3) measures of
sleep physiology in adults, patient populations, and children, 4) hormones assays to assess
underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms linking interpersonal stress to the onset of depression
and anxiety disorders, 5) computational and neural network computer modeling to better
understand how the brain supports cognition and behavior and, 6) structural MRI, BOLD fMRI,
resting state fMRI, and diffusion tensor imaging to study a range cognitive processes in both
patient (e.g., aphasia) and typical adult populations. Currently our researchers are conducting
their work across departments at UMA and also at collaborating institutions. Like faculty in the
other research areas, some faculty working in behavior/cognition are constrained by insufficient
clinical and research space.
Vision & Opportunity
Neuroscience Institute
The Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force concurs with the resounding opinion of
the broader UMA neuroscience community that developing improved conditions to support our
distinctive strength in research that integrates across the sub-disciplines in neuroscience
(cellular/molecular; systems/circuits; and behavior/cognition) is paramount in advancing
neuroscience at UMA. The consensus reached by the community is that this objective could be
best served though the creation of a UMass Neuroscience Institute that would serve as a focal
point for neuroscience research and education on campus and beyond (and interface with the
Five-College community and UMMS). The institute would be committed to a balance of basic
and translational/applied goals and would organize into several research centers to capitalize on
our existing and future positions of strength. We feel that the timing is ripe for administrative
support for academic and capital investment in a Neuroscience Institute at UMA. This timing is
driven by the combined factors of current aging infrastructure and facilities, a clear strength in
the collaborative nature of the UMA neuroscience community, and the multiplicative benefits of
bringing the current and planned research and technological capabilities for neuroscience
together in a common physical and intellectual environment.
We envision an institute that would be best served by including resources to:
1) Advance a broad range of neuroscience sub-disciplines that currently have solid
foundations at UMA, including cellular/molecular, systems/circuits, and
behavior/cognitive neuroscience. The boundaries separating these sub-disciplines are
increasingly porous, and an important goal for the institute would be to facilitate
integration across levels of analysis and approach. One of the main goals of the
institute, at the level of organization and leadership, would be to encourage
collaborative research that spans multiple integrative levels of neuroscience.
Increasingly, the collaborative nature of this field relies on regular and spontaneous
contact among disparate research groups and levels of analysis to stimulate
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3)
4)
5)
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innovation, which can only be possible when the group is supported within a common
Institute.
Hire an institute director who is an international leader in neuroscience research,
ideally with expertise in more than one of the UMA areas of strength
(cellular/molecular, systems/circuits, behavior/cognition), who can contribute to a
vision and plan for the future of neuroscience at UMass. The institute would be a hub
for university-wide collaborations with the core neuroscience community (e.g.,
mutually-informative partnerships with polymer science/electrical engineering). We
envision a key feature of the Institute would be a dedicated liaison (PhD-level staff)
in the director’s office to help coordinate such novel partnerships. The director will
work with department heads/chairs to position resources that would promote the
research interest in neuroscience across the University.
Develop a task force for integrating neuroscience efforts with the mission of IALS, as
well as the local Five-College neuroscience community, the UMMS campus, and
potentially other universities, medical institutions, and industry partners. There is a
surprisingly large, but somewhat dispersed community of neuroscientists in the
Pioneer Valley. Several of the Five Colleges are currently expanding hiring in
neuroscience. One goal of the Institute could be to capitalize on this regional strength
to drive national visibility for neuroscience in the Pioneer Valley. The institute would
also serve as a means to integrate neuroscience research efforts between the flagship
campus and the medical school. In addition to the MRI and microscopy facilities that
will be associated with IALS, it will be critical for us to build an advanced human
genomics laboratory and to expand the neuroimaging group to include a broader
developmental approach in assessing brain function and growth by increasing
imaging expertise in child and adolescent populations. It is critical for us to build
connections to UMMS and to develop a shared behavioral and physiological
laboratory facility to support the expansion of human neuroscience research on
campus to other community, clinical, and patient populations.
Develop and support shared experimentation cores that would propel the
neuroscience community forward and increase the overall competitiveness of UMA
neuroscience. In particular, we highlight the innovative potential of a
neurotechnology/engineering core, which would support the development of cuttingedge technologies on campus for neuroscience and other disciplines.
Provide pilot or seed grants that could support cross-campus collaborations,
discipline-specific grant writing support, and training fellowships for students or
postdocs. It will be particularly important to provide training in the basic principles of
functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement, experimental design and
data analysis to both faculty and graduate students with limited expertise in this area
prior to the acquisition of an MRI/Spectroscopy facility on campus. This will enable
UMA researchers who already investigate questions concerning brain/behavior, but
who do not have a record of neuroimaging research, to collect pilot data and compete
for external funding using this valuable resource.
The ultimate goal of creating a UMass Neuroscience Institute would be to leverage our current
strengths into a more cohesive, creative, and productive unit. Not only would the creation of an
institute drive increased student enrollment and attract new faculty as a ‘destination of choice’
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for neuroscience, facilitate increased federal, foundation, and private funding opportunities, but
the institute would also be a vehicle to increase campus efforts to elevate the awareness of the
important issues that we face in modern society that are informed by understanding the brain.
Establish an Undergraduate Neuroscience Major
In response to increased interest from students and faculty across several departments on
campus, we support the creation of a new interdisciplinary undergraduate Neuroscience major,
currently proposed in CNS. The proposed major draws on existing strengths in neuroscience
teaching and research within the departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS) and
Biology, which are currently combined to provide a “Neuroscience Track” within the PBS
major. A Neuroscience major will better provide students with the fundamental scientific
concepts and diverse methodological approaches needed to study the nervous system in a wide
spectrum of academic and professional careers. Several growth industries within the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and health care
will provide career opportunities for talented Neuroscience graduates, and would directly benefit
from the training provided by a Neuroscience major at the Commonwealth’s flagship campus.
Given the demonstrated success of and increased demand for the Neuroscience Track (currently
180 students) within the Psychology major, the Neuroscience major will be attractive to talented
students already on campus and will be a useful tool in recruiting excellent students to UMA
from across the country.
The popularity of neuroscience reflects great student interest nationwide. A number of
regional private colleges have started Neuroscience programs, (in fact, Amherst College boasts
the first Neuroscience major in the country dating back to 1973!), but because of the
interdepartmental nature of the field, it has taken longer for Neuroscience undergraduate
programs to develop at large universities. Until recently there were no Neuroscience majors at
public universities in New England. In 2011, the University of Vermont started an
undergraduate major in Neuroscience, pointing to the strategic timing of starting this major. The
University of Connecticut currently only has a minor in Neuroscience. If we do not start a major,
we will continue to lose students interested in this major to other universities.
A Neuroscience major will also foster interdisciplinary research and teaching across the
College of Natural Sciences and beyond, and it will support the CNS’s mission to rank among
the top public universities nationally in basic and applied sciences. Our faculty has the strength
and expertise in offering challenging courses necessary to create a nationally competitive
Neuroscience major. (See Appendix B for full proposal)
CNS Commitment to Eight Neuroscience Hires
Given the recent commitment from the CNS Dean for eight new hires in neuroscience in
the near future, the Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force generated a list of possible
tenure stream faculty positions viewed as particularly important for building on and expanding
existing strengths in neuroscience at UMA. One emphasis in future hiring is to continue to build
on our current strength as the community of neuroscientists who explicitly see their research
programs as integrative across sub-disciplines. In addition, with recent losses and retirement of
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more senior neuroscientists, the neuroscience community at UMA is currently weighted toward
junior and mid-level faculty. A large percentage of the UMA faculty who identify as
neuroscientists have spent less than 8-10 years in their appointments. While there is a vibrancy
among this community, the community would be enhanced by strategic hiring of senior
researchers who could help lead future growth. Most critically, the hiring of an institute director
would accelerate the development of a highly effective UMA Neuroscience Institute and
contribute to the goal of elevating the profile of neuroscience at UMA. It would also provide
concrete benefits such as increasing our ability to secure large, multi-investigator training or
center grants, to attract additional established neuroscientists and research grant support, and to
enhance the opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate education in neuroscience.
The Task Force also considered the appropriate timing of these hires. Because of current
severe restrictions to vivarium space (awaiting the completion of the renovation of the LSL
vivarium, and the loss of rodent animal facilities in Tobin), the Task Force recommends a plan of
concentrating hiring in the next two years (searches in Fall 2015 and Fall 2016) within the broad
levels of cellular/molecular and behavior/cognition (specifically neuroscientists using non-rodent
models and/or neuroscientists using utilizing MRI technology with human populations).
Searches in Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 would then concentrate on expanding research with rodent
models. In addition to generating position descriptions in the traditional departments housing
neuroscientists at UMA, the task force began discussions with several department Heads/Chairs
about hiring neuroscientists within several departments that have historically been less involved
in neuroscience, including the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Biostatistics, Veterinary and
Animal Sciences, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. As noted in the ‘Next Steps’ section
of this report, additional discussions regarding hiring are planned with the administration and
departments in College of Engineering and School of Public Health and Health Sciences, IALS
Director Peter Reinhart, and UMMS. See Appendix C for list of position descriptions.
Infrastructure
The broader Neuroscience research community at UMass would benefit substantially
from modernized research space within a dedicated Neuroscience Research Building. Our
collective experience with other campuses has clarified to the community that a new building
would catalyze significant improvements in cohesion and research productivity. Chiefly, a new
building would enable a combination of shared facilities and equipment, spontaneous encounters
among researchers, dedicated meeting spaces, and co-laboratory offices for visiting researchers
from industry. The two most common concerns of polled neuroscience faculty on campus were
the difficulty in maintaining consistent interaction among colleagues spread across campus and
suboptimal research space. A new building focused on neuroscience research is both timely and
essential to provide a solution to both of these issues. To capitalize on the broader research
resources in neuroscience at UMA, a new building should be designed with multiple levels of
neuroscience research in mind (from cellular/molecular to behavioral/cognitive) in concert with
the academic hiring initiative to achieve maximum impact and effectiveness. In addition, we
express high enthusiasm for a building housed in the life sciences section of campus so that
neuroscientists would have proximity to each other and the resources available in collaborator
labs. Housing the Neuroscience Institute near other life scientists would allow the shared use of
cores, both those contained within the Institute and those housed in the Life Science Laboratory,
Morrill, Lederle, etc. An ideal location might be the LSL 3, the previously proposed third stage
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of the Life Science Laboratory complex. It is important to note that, while some neuroscientists
currently inhabit labs in the life sciences section of campus, the community feels strongly that an
academic plan for neuroscience must proceed in parallel with a capital investment plan to
achieve the multiplicative benefits of building a functional community in this discipline.
Neuroscience is wide-ranging, and includes not only the biological and psychological
sciences, but also increasingly vital connections with physics, chemistry, engineering, computer
science, animal science, mathematics and statistics. A current limitation of the UMA
Neuroscience community is that it is not represented in many of these non-biology/psychology
science departments on campus. The community would benefit greatly from increasing
collaborative opportunities and representation in departments and colleges across disciplines
including Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Computer Science,
Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Public Health, Chemical Engineering, Linguistics,
Communication Disorders, Nursing, Biostatistics, and Polymer Science and Engineering. One
way to expand the scope of neuroscience research across campus is to plan a cluster hire in
neuroscience at the college or campus-level. Faculty hires could be housed in the Neuroscience
Institute with appointments in departments. This would allow them to maintain their connections
to their department while interacting with the developing and broadening population of
neuroscience researchers on campus.
Next Steps
During the spring semester of 2015, the Neuroscience Strategic Task Force’s will work to
expand our collaborative neuroscience research network and work directly with the
constituencies below to more fully identify and clarify opportunities for growth in the
neurosciences. We will continue to examine models for organizing neuroscience research at
other universities, and will discuss possible implementation strategies for the formation of a
Neuroscience Institute at UMass. We expect this plan to evolve substantially with broader
community input. Continuing strategic planning after this academic year will be formulated by
the neuroscience community, senior leadership (e.g., Deans, institute director(s), dedicated
steering committees), and these collaborative constituencies.
Continue To Grow Collaborative Connections
Academic Units That Have Historically Been Underrepresented in UMA
Neuroscience. The Task Force will continue to have discussions with departments and colleges
that have indicated interest and potential for increasing their involvement in neuroscience
research and hiring (e.g. Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Computer Science, Physics, Kinesiology, Communication Disorders, and Engineering).
UMMS. Vivian Budnick, Chair of UMMS Neurobiology, and the UMA Neuroscience
Strategic Planning Task Force have planned a January 2015 meeting to discuss steps to increase
UMMS-UMA collaborative neuroscience activities. Attendees from UMMS will be David
Paydafar (Associate Chair of Neurology), Andrew Tapper (Chair, Brudnick Neuropsychiatry
Institute), Neil Aronin (Co-Director Neurotherapeutic Institute), Marc Freeman (Co-Director
Neurotherapeutics Institute), David Weaver (Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program), Jean
King (Associate Provost for Biomedical Science Research and Director, Center for Comparative
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Neuroimaging), Melissa Moore (past co-director of the Neurotherapeutic Institute). There is
great interest on both campuses for substantially increasing collaboration between UMA and
UMMS neuroscience research and training.
The UMA neuroscience community has identified a number of ways that the UMass
Neuroscience Institute would be mutually-beneficial to the flagship campus and the medical
campus in Worcester. The UMMS program in Neurobiology is strong and successful, and the
current push to renew the UMass CTSA would benefit from increased engagement with basic
neuroscientists at the flagship campus. There are already several successful collaborations
between labs on the two research campuses, and significant opportunities for more. We have
identified travel support (a shuttle bus or travel fund/allowance) as one mechanism that could
facilitate interaction between the campuses (with models like UCSF-Berkeley, Cornell-Cornell
Med, Tufts-Tufts Med as examples). Removing some of these logistical hurdles would allow, for
example, clinical populations to come to the flagship campus for basic research studies, and
basic researchers to collaborate and take advantage of core resources on the medical campus.
The joint UMA-UMMS neuroscience retreat, held last year, was largely considered to be
a successful first effort in bringing these groups together. A UMA Neuroscience Institute could
extend these types of efforts and other similar interactions by providing strategic seed money for
pilot grants, shared collaborative student fellowships, and retreats as a means of fostering
continued collaborations between the two campuses. The Institute could also implement a
competition for internal grants that would be explicitly targeted for core facility usage, and that
would lead to pilot data for external grant submissions. The Institute could also centralize an
access point for investigators from Amherst to use the cutting-edge facilities at the medical
campus such as the transgenic core, deep sequencing core, viral vector core, mass spec, and
chemical screening. This would have the added benefit of preventing duplication of facilities that
are not on the UMass flagship campus but are essential for progress in this discipline.
The mutual benefits of increased UMA-UMMS interaction would also allow
neuroscientists at UMass Amherst to provide resources and expertise for the medical campus.
These include expertise in techniques like in vivo electrophysiology, small molecule design and
delivery, behavioral and cognitive models, engineering and polymer science, neuromorphic
computing and computational neuroscience, as well as potential teaching opportunities for
postdocs, and undergraduate researchers for summer fellowship opportunities. The UMA
neuroscience community thought it would be particularly useful to form an advisory committee
for the Institute that would comprise members from both campuses and potential industry and
philanthropic interests.
UMass Innovation Institute Plan. The UMass Innovation Institute is an important
channel at UMA for industry-sponsored basic and applied research, collaborative partnerships,
and technology translation to industry. Under the leadership of James Capistran, the UMII has
agreed to work with UMA neuroscience faculty to develop opportunities for collaborative
partnerships with businesses within the Commonwealth and beyond. Specifically, the Institute
will assist with: identifying industry partners, forming an industrial advisory committee to work
directly with neuroscience faculty and with the Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force,
building enthusiasm and interest within the potential partners, advising the process for securing
business agreements, showcasing existing facilities of potential interest, and serving as a channel
for applied, development-stage and pre-commercial neuroscience research projects. The UMII
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will collaborate with IALS, the UMA development office and other units on campus to achieve
these objectives.
Institute of Applied Life Sciences: The Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force met
with Peter Reinhart, Director of IALS, soon after his arrival on campus, and was excited by the
new possibilities for neuroscience to collaborate in the growth of IALS. Neuroscientists have
already been involved in the development of IALS in several ways. The Molecules to Medicine
Center in IALS has supported the emergence of a neuroscience group focused on neural
development and degeneration (Neural D2). Research in this area is focused on understanding
the cellular and molecular mechanisms that guide formation of the brain and nervous system
during embryogenesis. Over the last few years developmental neurobiologists have begun to
uncover a wide range of genetic and environmental factors that result in disorders that both affect
the embryo and arise throughout life, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Neural
stem cells, both in the embryo and adult, hold enormous promise for treating a wide array of
neurological diseases, making research in this area particularly attractive to funding agencies.
UMass has already built strength in a number of developmental model systems (zebrafish, frogs,
rodents), but has lost ground on several other important genetic models, including fly and
worms. Five researchers employ the zebrafish as an in vivo model to understand brain
differentiation, eye development and retinal degeneration, neural circuit formation in the spinal
cord, neural crest differentiation, and environmental factors affecting cell physiology during
development. State-of-the-art imaging facilities in faculty labs (confocal microscopy, laser sheet
confocal) and in the IALS imaging facility (multi-photon confocal, super-resolution capabilities)
greatly facilitate in vivo analyses that are critical for an understanding of neurodevelopment and
neurodegenerative processes. UMass thus has considerable potential to make major
contributions in this area in both the basic and translational research realms.
Neuroscientists have also been highly involved members of a faculty task force for the
past 18 months to develop a plan to facilitate the purchase and operation of an IALS facility for
magnetic resonance imaging. This facility will fundamentally advance human neuroscience at
UMA, and greatly enable the translation of basic and pre-clinical neuroscience research into
human applications.
Director Reinhart has expressed his interest in working directly with the Neuroscience
Strategic Planning Task Force during the spring of 2015 to further develop steps for integrated
collaboration with IALS goals and activities.
State Government. The Task Force met with Loren Walker to discuss identified
Commonwealth interests in neuroscience activities, such as the Massachusetts Neuroscience
Consortium, an industry-academic/research institution partnership, which has been lauded by
representatives in Congress as a model for national growth in this area. The Task Force will
meet with Chris Dunn, Director of Public and Constituent Relations, and continue to work with
Loren Walker and the VCRE’s office to establish these connections to Commonwealth interests.
Alumni. The Task Force will meet with the CNS and University Development Offices to
identify possible connections with CNS alumni and external advisors involved in neuroscience
careers and interested in advancing neuroscience research and training at UMA.
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Undergraduate Neuroscience Major Organizing Committee: As seen in Appendix B,
a proposal for a Neuroscience Major has been developed and this plan was presented to the
Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force. The Task Force is working with the faculty,
Elizabeth Connor and Lori Astheimer, who developed the plan for the major, to now create a
business plan for the major, clarifying sources for ongoing sustainability. The business plan is
expected to be completed and presented to the Dean in February 2015. If acceptable, the group
will then work through the university procedures for establishment of a new major, and devise a
comprehensive plan for publicity for the major to increase UMA’s visibility as a ‘destination of
choice’ for students.
Preparation for Hiring: The Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force will work in
January 2015 with departments and the Dean’s office to identify the most appropriate positions
for hiring in the near future. Once identified, the Dean and Provost’s offices, in conjunction with
the appropriate departments, Campus Planning, and Campus Facilities will work together to
prepare facilities for the new neuroscience searches in Fall 2015, for arrival in Fall 2016.
Discussions with Administrative Leadership. All visions of future opportunities for
growth in research and training require investment and depend on careful planning with
university leadership (Chancellor, Provost, VCRE, Deans, IALS Director), other academic units,
the Development office, and UMII to determine the feasibility of planning for a UMA
Neuroscience Institute and Neuroscience Research Building. Upon review of the Dean, the
Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force expects to further develop strategies for
sustainability of the proposed growth in neuroscience with a business plan, as well as work to
identify possible space and funding opportunities.
Conclusion
We envision the creation of a new Neuroscience Institute comprised of a group of highlyinteractive neuroscientists housed in an environment that facilitates community, collaboration,
and discussion, and who pride themselves on being able to cross sub-disciplines in their research
endeavors and in their conversation with other members of this community. Essential to the
neuroscience community is continued strong support for the interdisciplinary Neuroscience and
Behavior Graduate Program as a focal point for training and community, as well as the proposed
interdepartmental major for undergraduate training. Given that boundaries in the broad discipline
of Neuroscience are rapidly becoming more porous, we now have the opportunity to foster an
even more dynamic community which, provided the right leadership, environment, and
resources, could capitalize on its distinctive strengths and substantially increase its national and
international recognition.
A strategic investment in creating a UMA Neuroscience Institute is exactly in keeping
with the goal of our strategic planning process: intentionally investing in areas of strength that
provide the opportunity to make our campus a destination of choice for students and faculty, and
a partner of choice for industry, the Commonwealth and federal partners.
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Appendices
A: Neuroscience Strategic Planning Task Force Members and Current Neuroscience faculty
B: Undergraduate Major Plan
C: Descriptions of Potential CNS Neuroscience Hiring Positions