NEUROBIOLOGY OF DROSOPHILA
July 2 - 22, 2010
Application Deadline: March 15, 2010

Instructors:
Heather Broihier, Case Western Reserve University
David Featherstone, University of Illinois at Chicago
Ravi Allada, Northwestern University

See the roll of honor - who's taken the course in the past

This laboratory/lecture course is intended for researchers at all levels from beginning graduate students through established primary investigators who want to use Drosophila as an experimental system for nervous system investigation. The three-week course is divided into the study of development, physiology/function and behavior. Daily seminars introduce students to a variety of research topics and develop those topics by including recent experimental contributions and outstanding questions in the field. Guest lecturers bring original preparations for viewing and discussion and direct laboratory exercises and experiments in their area of interest. The course provides students with hands-on experience using a variety of experimental preparations that are used in the investigation of current neurobiological questions. The lectures and laboratories will focus on both the development of the nervous system and its role in controlling larval and adult behaviors. In addition to an exposure to the molecular genetic approaches available in Drosophila, students will learn a variety of techniques including: embryo in situ hybridization, labeling of identified neurons, electrophysiology (intracellular recording and patch clamping), optical imaging of neuronal activity, and the analysis of larval and adult behavior. Collectively, the course will provide a comprehensive and practical introduction to modern experimental methods for studying the Drosophila nervous system.

Last year's lecturers included:
Richard Benton, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Yick-Bun Chan, Harvard Medical School
Thomas Clandinin, Stanford University
Josh Dubnau, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Aki Ejima, Kyoto University, Japan
Marc Freeman, University of Massachussetts Medical School
Wesley Grueber, Columbia University
Gregory Jefferis, MRC LMB, United Kingdom
Maurice Kernan, SUNY at Stony Brook
Edward Kravitz, Harvard Medical School
Cheng-Yu Lee, University of Michigan School of Medicine
Edwin Levitan, University of Pittsburgh
Craig Montell, Johns Hopkins University
Kathaleen O'Connor-Giles, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Diane O'Dowd, University of California Irvine
Adrian Rothenfluh, UTSW
Stephan Sigrist, Freie University Berlin, Germany
Glenn Turner, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Bruno van Swinderen, University of Queensland, Australia
Patrik Verstreken, VIB and KULeuven, Belgium
Scott Waddell, UMass Medical School

This course is supported with funds provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Scientists from developing countries accepted into this course may be eligible for scholarships provided by the International Brain Research Organization (Click here for details)

Cost (including board and lodging): $4,250
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