Morehouse School of Medicine Neuroscience Institute Receives $5M Award

Morehouse School of Medicine received an early and deserved Christmas present weeks before the holiday when its Neuroscience Institute received a five-year five million dollar Specialized Neuroscience Research Program (SNRP) award to fund cutting-edge, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NINDS mission-related research performed by established investigators and early stage investigators.

“Our program encourages the support of the Specialized Neuroscience Research Program initiative to institutions like MSM,” said Dr. Courtney Ferrell-Aklin, NINDS program director for office of special programs in diversity. “We embrace their commitment to increasing academic scholarship and diversity in the neuroscience workforce.”

What Does This All Mean?

The award, the only one made within the continental USA, supports research in discovery and the application of knowledge in basic and translational neuroscience to treating neurological disorders.

A key feature of the SNRP award is the establishment of a collaborative BS/MS degree program in neuroscience among MSM and three undergraduate institutions in the Atlanta University Center (AUC), including Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark-Atlanta University. The first cohort of students will be recruited and enrolled in the program during the spring of 2014.

"Morehouse School of Medicine recognizes the challenges set forth by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to advance the mission of NINDS and to play a major role in diversifying the scientific workforce,” said Dr. Valerie Montgomery-Rice, dean and executive vice president at MSM. “MSM is committed to the support of the Neuroscience Institute, which has become a biomedical research performance model."

MSM contributed to this article.