Administrative and Technical Support

ABSTRACT: This is an application for a renewal of Silvio O. Conte Center titled “Neurobiology and Dynamics of Active Sensing” (P50 MH109429). We are in a no cost extension year following a five-year project period (May 1, 2017 to March 31, 2022) that to date has supported 66 publications, with 12 more papers in preparation or submitted at this time. The Center’s 5-year project period allowed us to mentor a number of trainees and junior scientists, many of whom are now pursuing independent research careers. Several former trainees are highlighted in leadership roles in our Center Renewal Application (see below). We have 4 projects and 3 Cores as described below. Three of our four Projects, and two of our three Cores are led by returning members of the original Center, including Drs. Schroeder (Center director, Project 3 (P3) leader and Core A leader), Milham (Co-Center Director, Project lead P1), Knight (project Lead, P2) and Franco (Core C leader). Two seasoned investigators, Stephanie Jones (Brown Univ.) and John Murray (Yale Univ.) have joined us to form P4 (Computational Modeling), and two other investigators are co-leaders of Core B (Multimodal Analytics). We are all leaders in our fields, as shown by our records of publications, grants and conceptual/technical innovation. We each bring with us networks of trainees and colleagues who share our continuing dedication to find a break-through in our mechanistic understanding of brain dynamics, as well as a clear recognition that this is by necessity a multidisciplinary enterprise, ideally suited to, and in fact requiring a support mechanism like the Conte Center. Core A has several necessary supervisory and administrative functions, including, among other things, serving as the communication backbone of the Center, and maintaining the highest standards of ethical and financial accountability across the Center. This core will also be responsible for coordinating the External Scientific Advisory Board, the Seminar series, and the Annual retreat as described in “Overview.” Beyond this our overarching goal is to provide the greatest possible support for synergy across projects in the Center and for the Center’s intellectual agility so that it can exploit new discoveries and adapt to problems and challenges that emerge during its funding cycle. We will pursue this goal on multiple levels.