The new UCLA-CDU Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of California, Los Angeles and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is pleased to announce a fellowship program designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders at the intersection of neuroscience and society.
The Center builds bi-directional bridges between fundamental and clinical neuroscience, neuroscience adjacent academic disciplines, and communities historically underrepresented in neuroscience research. We do this by engaging with individuals with different lived-experiences and knowledge, including but not limited to community organizations and residents of South LA, neuroscientists, and people with expertise in social science, education, policy, and the humanities.
Participation in our Fellowship Program will prepare you to ask critical questions at the intersection of neuroscience and society and co-create projects that start from and are responsive to the interests of community organizations in South LA. To this end, individuals from a wide range of disciplines are encouraged to apply, including community members. Interested individuals should look at our full request for applications below.
Current Fellowship Opportunity: October 2024 Dana Center Fellowship
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- See 2024 Fellowships Facts In Brief and read full RFA here.
- Proposals must be submitted via the submission portal here.
- For more information contact, Sabrina Amani, Dana Center Administrative Director samani@mednet.ucla.edu
Past and Present Fellows
Our Summer 2024 Fellowship begins on August 1, 2024. They are:
Abigail Aleman
Yesenia Cabrera
Anna Immergluck
Tania Lugo
Erin Morrow
Kiara Phillips
Shantee Ayala Rosario
Fellowship Tracks
Each fellow to select one of the four core Dana Center tracks to be the focus of their fellowship. The Tracks as defined below are strongly overlapping and share a common goal, so fellows will identify a primary fellowship track, but participate in activities and contribute to all tracks.
Once accepted, each fellow will develop a detailed personalized fellowship plan with a mentor within their track.
Education Track
The education track is designed to develop and lead cross-disciplinary and experiential education initiatives inside and outside of the academy. The fellows will be engaged in activities such as designing curricula for the CDU Pipeline program and a neuroscience and society minor at UCLA; designing and leading workshops; researching what field specific assumptions, language, approaches impact successful education in neuroscience and society, etc.
System Change Track
The Systems change track seeks to disengage systems that advance structural racism and create approaches to neuroscience that advance healing and resilience. Systems change fellows might focus on public policy (translating neuroscience research into policy initiatives), neuroethics (creating ethical frameworks for carrying out neuroscientific work with community members), or culture change (identifying how the culture of neuroscience might be shifted to center a focus on dismantling structural racism and science in the public interest).
Community Partnership Track
Community fellows will lead efforts to engage and maintain community partner relationships. Community fellows will be involved in seeking out and developing relationships with community organizations that have a shared mission with the goals of the Center. Fellows might develop a framework for bidirectional and ethical community partnership, help identify goals of community organizations and liaison between community and academy, or produce scholarship around community partnership and engagement. Community Fellows will be embedded into a community organization to help with capacity building of the organization.
Research Track
Fellows in the research track will carry out research projects in their home discipline related to neuroscience and society. Ideally, these projects will be informed by and responsive to the identified interests of community partners. Currently, CNS themes include: (i) the relationship between social and built environments and the brain, (ii) the relationship between music and the brain, and (iii) understanding intergenerational trauma. Fellows in this track may already have a research project that would fit with the center, or be interested in developing a new one.
2024 Fellowships Facts In Brief
Key Dates for October 1, 2024 Dana Center Fellowships:
- RFA Posted: August 1, 2024
- RFA Portal open: August 6, 2024
- Deadline for submission: August 20, 2024
- Award Notification: September 1, 2024
Eligibility
The CNS Fellowship Program welcomes applications from a broad range of qualified individuals, including but not limited to:
- Masters, PhD, or post-doctoral trainees in neuroscience, social science, public health, public policy, or humanities disciplines
- Medical students interested in neuroscience and society, especially during the discovery year at UCLA and pursing research requirements at CDU
- Community leaders with an understanding of the needs of their communities and a passion for bridging the gap between neuroscience and society.
UCLA Bunche Fellows are particularly invited to apply. They be selected separately the Bunche Fellow selection committee but will otherwise be full Dana CNS Fellow.
Important Notes
- Proposals must be received no later than midnight PST on the deadline date. Early submission is encouraged.
- Proposals must be submitted via the submission portal here.
- For more information contact, Sabrina Amani, Dana Center Administrative Director samani@mednet.ucla.edu