Browsing by Author "Van Wart, Audra"
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- Applying Experiential Learning to Career Development Training for Biomedical Graduate Students and Postdocs: Perspectives on Program Development and DesignVan Wart, Audra; O'Brien, Theresa C.; Varvayanis, Susi; Alder, Janet; Greenier, Jennifer; Layton, Rebekah L.; Stayart, C. Abigail; Wefes, Inge; Brady, Ashley E. (2020-09)Experiential learning is an effective educational tool across many academic disciplines, including career development. Nine different institutions bridged by the National Institutes of Health Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training Consortium compared their experiments in rethinking and expanding training of predoctoral graduate students and post-doctoral scholars in the biomedical sciences to include experiential learning opportunities. In this article, we provide an overview of the four types of experiential learning approaches our institutions offer and compare the learning objectives and evaluation strategies employed for each type. We also discuss key factors for shaping experiential learning activities on an institutional level. The framework we provide can help organizations determine which form of experiential learning for career training might best suit their institutions and goals and aid in the successful design and delivery of such training.
- A cross-institutional analysis of the effects of broadening trainee professional development on research productivityBrandt, Patrick D.; Sturzenegger Varvayanis, Susi; Baas, Tracey; Bolgioni, Amanda F.; Alder, Janet; Petrie, Kimberly A.; Dominguez, Isabel; Brown, Abigail M.; Stayart, C. Abigail; Singh, Harinder; Van Wart, Audra; Chow, Christine S.; Mathur, Ambika; Schreiber, Barbara M.; Fruman, David A.; Bowden, Brent; Wiesen, Christopher A.; Golightly, Yvonne M.; Holmquist, Chris E.; Arneman, Daniel; Hall, Joshua D.; Hyman, Lynda E.; Gould, Kathleen L.; Chalkley, Roger; Brennwald, Patrick J.; Layton, Rebekah L. (PLOS, 2021-07-15)PhD-trained scientists are essential contributors to the workforce in diverse employment sectors that include academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations. Hence, best practices for training the future biomedical workforce are of national concern. Complementing coursework and laboratory research training, many institutions now offer professional training that enables career exploration and develops a broad set of skills critical to various career paths. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded academic institutions to design innovative programming to enable this professional development through a mechanism known as Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST). Programming at the NIH BEST awardee institutions included career panels, skill-building workshops, job search workshops, site visits, and internships. Because doctoral training is lengthy and requires focused attention on dissertation research, an initial concern was that students participating in additional complementary training activities might exhibit an increased time to degree or diminished research productivity. Metrics were analyzed from 10 NIH BEST awardee institutions to address this concern, using time to degree and publication records as measures of efficiency and productivity. Comparing doctoral students who participated to those who did not, results revealed that across these diverse academic institutions, there were no differences in time to degree or manuscript output. Our findings support the policy that doctoral students should participate in career and professional development opportunities that are intended to prepare them for a variety of diverse and important careers in the workforce.
- Gene expression patterns in visual cortex during the critical period: Synaptic stabilization and reversal by visual deprivationVan Wart, Audra; Lyckman, Alvin W.; Horng, Sam; Leamey, Catherine A.; Tropea, Daniela; Watakabe, Akiya; McCurry, Cortina; Yamamori, Tetsuo; Sur, Mriganka (National Academy of Sciences, 2008-07)The mapping of eye-specific, geniculocortical inputs to primary visual cortex (V1) is highly sensitive to the balance of correlated activity between the two eyes during a restricted postnatal critical period for ocular dominance plasticity. This critical period is likely to have amplified expression of genes and proteins that mediate synaptic plasticity. DNA microarray analysis of transcription in mouse V1 before, during, and after the critical period identified 31 genes that were up-regulated and 22 that were down-regulated during the critical period. The highest-ranked up-regulated gene, cardiac troponin C, codes for a neuronal calcium-binding protein that regulates actin binding and whose expression is activity-dependent and relatively selective for layer-4 star pyramidal neurons. The highest-ranked down-regulated gene, synCAM, also has actin-based function. Actinbinding function, G protein signaling, transcription, and myelination are prominently represented in the critical period transcriptome. Monocular deprivation during the critical period reverses the expression of nearly all critical period genes. The profile of regulated genes suggests that synaptic stability is a principle driver of critical period gene expression and that alteration in visual activity drives homeostatic restoration of stability.
- Molecular mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity in visual cortexVan Wart, Audra; Tropea, Daniela; Sur, Mriganka (Royal Society, 2008)A remarkable amount of our current knowledge of mechanisms underlying experience-dependent plasticity during cortical development comes from study of the mammalian visual cortex. Recent advances in high-resolution cellular imaging, combined with genetic manipulations in mice, novel fluorescent recombinant probes, and large-scale screens of gene expression, have revealed multiple molecular mechanisms that underlie structural and functional plasticity in visual cortex. We situate these mechanisms in the context of a new conceptual framework of feed-forward and feedback regulation for understanding how neurons of the visual cortex reorganize their connections in response to changes in sensory inputs. Such conceptual advances have important implications for understanding not only normal development but also pathological conditions that afflict the central nervous system.
- STAT1 Regulates the Homeostatic Component of Visual Cortical Plasticity via an AMPA Receptor-Mediated MechanismVan Wart, Audra; Nagakura, Ikue; Petravicz, Jeremy; Tropea, Daniela; Sur, Mriganka (Society for Neuroscience, 2014-07-30)Accumulating evidence points to a role for Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) immune signaling in neuronal function; however, its role in experience-dependent plasticity is unknown. Here we show that one of its components, STAT1, negatively regulates the homeostatic component of ocular dominance plasticity in visual cortex. After brief monocular deprivation (MD), STAT1 knock-out (KO) mice show an accelerated increase of open-eye responses, to a level comparable with open-eye responses after a longer duration of MD in wild-type (WT) mice. Therefore, this component of plasticity is abnormally enhanced in KO mice. Conversely, increasing STAT1 signaling by IFNy treatment in WT mice reduces the homeostatic component of plasticity by impairing open-eye responses. Enhanced plasticity inKOmice is accompanied by sustained surface levels of GluA1AMPAreceptors and increased amplitude and frequency of AMPA receptor-mediated mEPSCs, which resemble changes in WT mice after a longer duration of MD. These results demonstrate a unique role for STAT1 during visual cortical plasticity in vivo through a mechanism that includes AMPA receptors.