Cancer Neuroscience Training Program

Contemporary new technologies such as optogenetics and single cell genomics show that electrically active neurons stimulate growth of adult and pediatric gliomas. Conversely, cancers and cancer therapies alter nervous system form and function (e.g., cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment colloquially known as “chemobrain” or “chemofog”). The two-way dialogue between tumors and the nervous system defines an emerging new scientific discipline termed “Cancer Neuroscience”. The Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), together with the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), propose an integrative, first-in-kind postdoctoral training program in this new field. The Program will be co-led by a clinician scientist, Tracy Batchelor, M.D. (Chair of Neurology at BWH) and a basic scientist Michael Greenberg, Ph.D. (co-director, Harvard Brain Science Initiative). A faculty of 29 mentors will be drawn from the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and from the Harvard Brain Science Initiative. This will be a basic science program. Candidates with Ph.D. and/or M.D. degrees will be eligible but there will be no clinical training. We request support for 6 postdoctoral fellows per year to serve 2-year appointments. The Program will foster both scientific development and professional development of these trainees. For Scientific Development, the Program will bring doctorate level basic scientists with skill sets in neural development, electrophysiology, neural circuitry, optogenetics, brain metabolism and neurochemistry into the laboratories of clinical/translational investigators working on primary and also metastatic cancers of the brain. For laboratory research, fellows will be taught to identify important questions and approaches that will move the field forward and provide translational opportunities to impact cancer treatment. For professional development, we will provide trainees with (i) opportunities to refine and enhance their grantsmanship and scientific communication skills; (ii) individual Development Plans; (iii) individual postdoctoral mentoring committees, and (iv) customized opportunities for trainees to acquire experience in mentoring and teaching depending on their career goals. The program Director and co-Director will work closely with a Training Oversight Committee and an External Advisory Board. Collaborative relationships with academic institutions will help support trainee recruitment and program development. Strategies to measure trainee satisfaction, track outcomes, and evaluate program effectiveness will include annual surveys from trainees and mentors, as well as exit and alumni interviews. Institutional resources and funding will support training activities and annual advisory meetings.