Education

At Community Level

Professors and students at the Center regularly conduct public education workshops on-site and at locations throughout Staten Island and other boroughs of New York City. Presently the CDN is amidst establishing collaborations with the SI Children’s Museum, local public schools and institutions specialized in treating individuals with disabilities.

Graduate Education

In 2002, the CDN in collaboration with the IBR developed and established the Master’s Program of Science in Neuroscience and Developmental Disabilities (MS) at the College of Staten Island to provide educational, training and mentoring opportunities, and access to resources for neuroscience research and scholarship to graduate-level students interested in master education.

This program was among the first in the country dedicated to train students in neurological aspects of disease. Since the creation, the enrollment of students in the program has increased dramatically.

Students enrolled in this Master’s Program have the option to conduct their research at CDN or through the IBR educational program in Developmental Neuroscience and Developmental Disabilities, thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding of these two institutions.

Doctoral education at CDN - Doctoral Program in Biology, Neuroscience Subprogram
The College, and specially the CDN, actively participates with the Graduate School, the University Center and the IBR to offer a PhD program in Biology with a subspecialty in Neuroscience. The program gives students advanced knowledge in neurobiology and neurochemistry. State-of-the-art neuroscience laboratories equipped with facilities for neuronal cell cultures, cell imaging microscopy, bioenzymatic analyses, protein purification, gene cloning, electrophysiology, and other advanced research procedures as well as expert mentorship are provided by the faculty at CDN for student dissertation research. Research emphasis is on neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and molecular mechanisms underlying learning, memory, and developmental disabilities.

The CDN had a significant influence on the restructuring and expansion of this Neuroscience Subprogram at the Graduate Center. Furthermore, the Master Program in Neuroscience has been an important gateway to facilitate the admission of students to the doctoral program at CUNY Graduate Center.

Admission to the doctoral program is through the Graduate School and University Center (365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016; P 212 817-7470; email admissions@gc.cuny.edu; www.gc.cuny.edu).