CSHL Course on Methods in Cancer Neuroscience (2025-2029) - Abstract The proposed Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) course Methods in Cancer Neuroscience (MCN), to be held annually starting in March 2025, is part of the advanced postgraduate courses offered by the CSHL Meetings & Courses Program. MCN is a short, intensive sixteen day hands-on course which prepares students to enter directly into research that makes use of advanced and/or specialized molecular and cellular techniques in cancer neuroscience. Experimental modules in the course will include preparation of cell suspensions for injections, intracranial cell injections, peripheral tumor cell, injections, intra-cardiac and tail vein models of metastasis, viral injections and fiber optic placement for optogenetics (CNS), cranial window implantation, virus injections for neuronal tract tracing, behavioral assays and analysis, primary neuron isolation and co-culture with cancer cells, immune cell & neuron co-culture with cancer cells, and stable cell line generation, in vivo electrophysiology and data analysis, immunolabeling of co-cultures, electron microscopy (lecture only), fluorescent reporters for in vivo video-microscopy, two-photon microscopy, neurite outgrowth, clonogenic assays, and other functional assays, mouse brain organotypic cultures, advanced analysis of calcium reporters, tissue preparation for 10x scRNA-seq and data analysis, among other techniques. Experimental techniques are taught in the context of the broader conceptual advances that they may provide. The course invites lecturers who have made significant contributions in their fields to give up-to-the-minute reports on current research. The trainees are chosen by the course faculty from larger pools of applicants and range from graduate students to senior investigators and research physicians. Because of the short duration of this course, senior, as well as junior individuals can attend and receive a short, intense period of training in an environment remote from other demands on their time and attention. The MCN course also provides an unusual opportunity for established scientists to apply these advanced techniques to their own research interests, or to retrain in an important specialty within cancer neuroscience with which they may not be familiar. Methods and concepts taught in the course are disseminated to the wider research community through the publication of laboratory manuals and online resources.
