Training Program in Neuroengineering and Medicine (NAM)

The goal of this exciting multidisciplinary institutional training program, based in the Schools of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, is to train predoctoral engineering students and physician postdoctoral fellows in Neuroengineering and its clinical translation. Trainees will be mentored in a collaborative environment to become fluent in cutting-edge technologies at the forefront of Neuroengineering.

This program is designed to meet individual objectives and encompasses a broad range of interests such as devices, neurostimulation, machine learning, algorithm development, cloud computing, nanotechnology, natural language processing and materials science. Trainees will innovate new therapies for human disease and gain a thorough understanding of the clinical, regulatory, and developmental environments necessary to safely bring new technologies to patients. The program’s core is a group of collaborative, multidisciplinary faculty mentors in engineering and the clinical neurosciences. We develop future academic researchers who have expertise in both engineering and clinical neuroscience, and who can communicate effectively across these domains.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS:

All Trainees

  • 80% of time spent on conducting a closely-mentored, independent, neuroengineering research project in the laboratory of trainee’s primary mentor, and learning to collaborate with others (secondary mentor) as part of a multi-disciplinary team
  • Develop a jointly-mentored translational Neuroengineering research project
  • Attend targeted seminars, journal clubs, visiting scholar talks, monthly lunches
  • Monthly meetings on statistics, quantitative rigor, validation, tools, experimental design with Statistician in Residence
  • Writing & presenting – instruction and practice
  • Professional skills workshops
  • Attend Grand Rounds in the clinical specialty related to trainee research when relevant topics are being presented

Predoctoral Trainees

  • Clinical preceptorship 1 day per month (requires HIPAA and/or CITI training): hands-on understanding of the unmet need their work is designed to solve, so that they won’t just be developing devices, but technologies that solve real-world clinical problems. Clinical preceptorships will be arranged for each predoctoral trainee focusing on their area of interest. Details will be arranged by the trainee’s primary mentor, with assistance from Dr. Litt. Sessions will be supplemented by guided reading and one-on-one meetings with the preceptor. Clinical preceptorships will take place at the Penn or CHOP.
  • Formal coursework: Neurobiology of Disease or equivalent
  • NAM program project will become student’s Engineering PhD thesis project.

Postdoctoral Trainees

  • Spend 20% of time spent on clinical care
  • Integrate and conduct research in a neuroengineering laboratory
  • Participate in weekly lab meetings, in tutorials with the lab director related to their research and in all other lab activities.
  • Perfect proposals for K-awards during their 2nd year in the program; may take the School of Medicine Grantsmanship course which focuses on writing a K award.
  • Attend four professional skills development workshops
  • Encouraged to take one course per year. (audit or pass/ fail). 400 level or graduate courses in advanced engineering methods in area of interest. Trainees should work with their Mentor(s) and Dr. Litt to identify Translational and Clinical Neuroscience coursework that furthers the Trainee’s research and education. Director reserves the right to waive or adjust this requirement for trainees. Examples include:
    • NETS 212 - Scalable and Cloud Computing
    • CIS 550 - Database and Information Systems
    • MEAM 520 - Introduction to Robotics
    • BE 521 - Brain-Computer Interfaces
    • ESE/MSE 525 - Nanoscale Science and Engineering
    • ESE 545 Data Mining: Learning from Massive Datasets

APPLICATION GUIDELINES:

  • The NAM Training Grant will fund 6 trainees per year:
    • ​3 Predoctoral trainees (Engineering PhD students who have completed their course work)
    • 3 Postdoctoral trainees (MD Clinical Fellows)
  • Eligible trainees will be supported for 1-2 years and must be a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien (Green Card holder).
  • To complete the online application register via this link https://redcap.link/REDCAP2024  . Additionally, you will be sent a link to complete a form providing the NAM program with contact information for two references. Once submitted, you will be sent two separate emails to forward to your respective references. Please have each of your referees submit signed letters of reference as PDFs through their unique, online reference request form.
  • Please choose a T32 mentor or, if your current primary mentor is not listed as a T32 faculty member, please choose a T32 faculty member as a co-mentor prior to applying. Below you will find the faculty for both non-clinical and clinic mentors.
  • With the help of your mentor, and possibly co-mentor, design a project that fit the objectives and components of this training program. The program description asked for within the application should not exceed approximately 2 pages total.

 

For questions, please contact the NAM T32 Administration, at littlab@seas.upenn.edu .

NON-CLINICAL MENTORS (PDF)

CLINICAL MENTORS (PDF)