Center for Translational Neuroscience (CTN)

The CTN was established in early 2003, as a division of the Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences. Edgar Garcia-Rill, PhD, was appointed as the Director of the CTN. The purpose of the CTN is to facilitate and integrate research on translational aspects of neuroscience across UAMS, basically bringing basic neuroscience findings to the bedside.

The CTN is also the research arm of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neuroscience Institute. The Spine Institute arose from a $48 million donation that resulted in the construction of a 12-story building. The Director of the Spine Institute is T. Glenn Pait, MD, who is also Clinical Director of the CTN. A highlight of this program is the Spinal Cord Injury Mobilization Program designed to provide the most comprehensive therapy program for recovery of movement. Two devices developed at UAMS will form part of this five-step program.

A recently recruited faculty member for the CTN, Mark Mennemeier, PhD, is a NIH-funded authority on neglect following stroke. He and CTN investigators have developed a novel treatment that eliminates neglect in certain patients. Other ongoing research programs of the CTN include spinal cord injury (Thomas Kiser, MD; T. Glenn Pait, MD; Robert D. Skinner, PhD; Nancy B. Reese, PhD), chronic low back pain and co-morbidities (Alice V. Fann, MD; Richard Owen, MD), long-term effects of neonatal pain (Sunny Anand, MD; Whit Hall, MD), space motion sickness and tinnitus (John Dornhoffer, MD; Chris Danner, MD), developmental regulation (Melanie MacNicol, PhD), and sleep/psychiatric disorders (E. Garcia-Rill, PhD). Collaborations with the Reynolds Center on Aging (Lou Ann Eads, MD; Pham Liem, MD; Jody Hagen, PhD) has resulted in the identification of physiological measures that differentiate between two populations of patients with Alzheimer's Disease, each of which calls for different treatments. Collaboration with the Division of Cardiology is also ongoing (Jay Mehta, MD; Charles Chahoud, MD) on coronary artery disease and depression. Collaborations with Elie Al-Chaer, PhD, on pain mechanisms also are generating exciting new findings.

The CTN has been awarded funding by the NIH, NSF and various companies and agencies totaling over $11 million, and was selected by UAMS to apply for a Center of Excellence. This $7.5 million award is aimed at mentoring clinician scientists, in collaboration with basic scientists, to help them reach nationally competitive levels in NIH grant support.

The COBRE programs at the CTN have oversight from an External Advisory Committee made up of established scientists from across the country, an Internal Advisory Committee made up of department chairs, and will include Administrative and Experimental Core Facilities, and a Career Development Program. A number of established and well-funded investigators have agreed to serve as Mentors for young clinician investigators at the CTN.

For more information see http://www.uams.edu/ctn.