Introduction
The Summer Undergraduate Neuroscience (SUN) program offers Louisiana's undergraduate students hands-on experiences in laboratory research and education in the neurosciences, with the goal of stimulating an interest in medicine, neuroscience and research as a career.
During the past decade, the Neuroscience Center has become a driving force behind the development of the neurosciences at the LSU Health Sciences Center.
Overall, the mission of the Center is to contribute to the creation of an environment of high standards, where investigations on the nervous system and the diseases that affect it are conducted. To this end, the identification and recruitment of outstanding faculty to build a critical mass of expertise is already a tangible asset.
Objectives
The purpose of this program is to attract top undergraduate students in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Psychology, and related fields who would be interested in having summer experience in the basic and fundamental sciences of the nervous system. Students are expected to attend formal lectures in such areas as human genetics, molecular and developmental neurobiology, as well as to carry out research in one of the laboratories of the faculty of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence.
Highlights of Program
The core program includes specialized neuroscience lectures (investigative neuroscience, molecular neurobiology, and behavioral neuroscience, cell biology). Summer research at faculty laboratories provides the students with research experience. Students are expected to attend the neuroscience seminar series, and the many other brain science activities sponsored by the LSU Health Sciences Center.
Impact on Education
The Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Training Program at the LSU Health Sciences Center, Neuroscience Center of Excellence, is a multidisciplinary program offering research training in the fundamental neurosciences. Training is designed to provide undergraduate students with a broad general knowledge of neuroscience.
The undergraduate participants have attended Louisiana Colleges and Universities.
Anticipated Benefits
Since its inception, the Neuroscience Center of Excellence has become a nucleus of academic achievement, and contributes in attracting out-of-state businesses to New Orleans, as well as distinguished experts and private and federal funding to support research. High quality, intensive research is our best hope for discovering why brain diseases occur and to conquer them.