Scientific Short Courses

SfN Scientific Short Courses train scientists in emerging topics and research techniques in neuroscience. The day-long courses were held on the Friday before Neuroscience 2018 on November 2 in San Diego, CA.

• Organizer / Moderator: Jill Becker, PhD, University of Michigan; Jessica Tollkuhn, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
• Faculty: Margaret McCarty, PhD, University of Maryland; Deena Walker, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Rebecca Shansky, PhD, Northeastern University; Laura O'Dell, PhD, University of El Paso; Colin Saldanha, PhD, American University; Catherine Woolley, PhD, Northwestern University; Debra Bangasser, PhD, Temple University
• Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. PDT
• Location: San Diego Convention Center 6B

This course was designed to enable neuroscientists to incorporate both sexes into their preclinical research. Participants became familiar with molecular, neural circuit, and behavioral differences between the sexes, with a focus on rodents. Leading experts reviewed fundamental concepts and the latest discoveries, including the developmental origins of sex differences; gonadal steroid hormones; stress and vulnerability; reward and affective behaviors; and adolescence and puberty. Experimental design considerations and statistical analyses were also discussed. Review the course agenda.

• Organizer / Moderator: Ed Boyden, PhD, MIT; Kwanghun Chung, PhD, MIT
• Faculty: Mark Schnitzer, PhD, Stanford University; Valentina Emiliani, PhD, Paris Descartes University; Na Ji, PhD, University of California, Berkeley; Liam Paninski, PhD, Columbia University; Joshua Vogelstein, PhD, Johns Hopkins University; Elizabeth Hillman, PhD, Columbia University
• Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. PDT
• Location: San Diego Convention Center 6C

We are in an era of great innovation with new fluorescent reporters of neural activity, microscope architectures, and strategies for acquiring and analyzing large physiological and anatomical datasets, How can these technologies be deployed in the service of making the highest-impact discoveries in both basic and applied neuroscience?

This short course covered some of the practical considerations for how to best use new molecular, microscopy, tissue processing, and data analysis tools, with the goal of enabling attendees to intelligently select the best technological path for confronting a given scientific question in the fundamental or translational realm. Review the course agenda.

2017:

• Intersection Between Brain and Immune System in Health and Disease
• Neuroinformatics in the Age of Big Data: Working With the Right Data and Tools

2016:

• Using Single Cell Genomics to Analyze Neurons, Glia, and Circuits 
• Data Science and Data Skills for Neuroscientists 

2015:

• Using iPS Cells and Reprogramming to Model Neural Development and Disease
• The Impact of Human Genetics and Genomics in Neurobiology: From Disease Discovery to Fundamental Mechanisms (and Back)

2014:

• Advances in Multineuronal Monitoring of Brain Activity
• Advances in Brain-Scale, Automated Anatomical Techniques: Neuronal Reconstruction, Tract Tracing, and Atlasing

2013:

• Chemo and Optogenetics: Light and Chemical Control of Neurons
• The Science of Large Data Sets: Spikes and Voxels