Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
This application is to request funds to support 15 young investigator travel awards for the annual Winter Conference on Brain Research (WCBR 2025-2027). This conference is a popular forum for exploring new developments in the neuroscience field usually with ~500 scientist attendees. There typically are over 80 panel presentations and poster sessions (excluding the last afternoon) concluding with a special judged poster session that includes the top-ranking poster submissions predominantly presented by young investigators. Professional Development Workshops for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty (initiated in 2015) continue to maintain high attendance annually. Extended periods of time are set aside for breakout groups, networking, diversity workshops, and scientific discussions. WCBR is an excellent opportunity for junior investigators and trainees to interact with established investigators in a relaxed atmosphere. The evaluations of recent conferences highlight the strong impact this meeting typically has on emerging as well as established scientists. As the travel funds allocated for emerging scientists have not kept pace with the rising costs of attending small, specialized meetings, we are requesting funding from other sources. We are hoping that the results of our requests enable us to support a large number of junior investigators to participate in the meeting. The conference traditionally takes place at a mountain venue in the western USA (rarely in Canada). The 56th annual meeting will take place in Breckenridge, CO between 1/27/24-2/1/24 and the 57th meeting will be in Lake Tahoe, CA between 1/24-1/29/25 (venues for future conferences will be decided at the 56th meeting). For the 2024 WCBR meeting, the keynote speaker, who will also speak at a Brain Talk Town Meeting open to the entire community, will be Gina Poe, PhD, Lorre Scholars Chair, Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. There is an annual School Outreach Program organized in collaboration with local middle and high school teachers in which up to 10 WCBR scientists visit community schools. WCBR’s program is developed annually based on abstract submissions in August each year. At WCBR 2024, 17 panels and one Pioneer session are specifically on abused drugs and another 46 panels focus on reward-related topics or more broadly related to CNS plasticity. Thus, a large proportion of the conference is highly relevant to understanding the neurobiological bases of substance use disorders (SUDs) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) as well as neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders consistent with NIDA’s and NIAAA’s missions. The fact that a large proportion of the participants are junior investigators and a significant number are graduate students and postdocs ensures that this conference has an impact on how future generations of neuroscientists view these issues.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).