Child Neurology Residency Training Program

Neuroscience in the Boston Area

In addition to the world-class scientists available within the department as potential research mentors, our residents also have access to other Longwood Medical Area scientists who are members of our NIH-funded Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center. (IDDRC) Residents have the opportunity to meet and interact with the members of this Center and with visiting distinguished neuroscientists from around the world during a biweekly neuroscience seminar series sponsored by the center.

Residents are encouraged to explore neuroscience opportunities within the Boston area, home to the many leaders in the field. Examples include Michael Greenberg, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, whose research focuses on the identification of a genetic program that is activated by neuronal activity, the mechanisms of signal transduction that carry the neuronal activity-dependent signal from the membrane to the nucleus, and the identification of regulators of this experience-dependent process that affect synapse development and plasticity.

Cross-institutional collaborations give residents opportunities to interact with innovative researchers from Boston's premier research institutions. For example, Mriganka Sur, PhD, Head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Disorders at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, collaborated on the development of a clinical trial at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Sur has discovered fundamental principles by which neurons of the cerebral cortex are wired during development and change dynamically in adulthood.

Additionally, Mark Bear, PhD, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT collaborates with Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD, in the development of clinical trials. Dr. Bear is also the Scientific Founder of Seaside Therapeutics, which has discovered biochemical deficits associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) suggesting the possibility of novel therapeutics.