Elizabeth Brown - US grants

The Robert Noyce Scholars Program at Indiana State University (ISU) is increasing the number and retention rate of licensed secondary school teachers in science and mathematics in high-need schools in the Indianapolis Public School system. Noyce Scholars are recruited from among transfer students entering ISU from two-year institutions, as well as from transitioning professionals with backgrounds in science and mathematics. Undergraduates receive scholarships to support their teacher training, and graduate students, entering ISU's Transition to Teaching program, receive stipends to offset the costs of attendance at ISU. Twenty-six future teachers are being trained and mentored in a well-established teacher education program, which builds on a long-standing partnership between ISU and the Professional Development Schools in the Indianapolis area. Students in the program take coursework that integrates both Indiana Academic Standards into content area training, as well as a problem-based learning approach to teaching science and mathematics. Noyce Scholars commit to teaching in the Indianapolis Public Schools for two years for each year of the scholarship. The intellectual merit of the project includes an evaluation of the effect of targeted teacher training for the urban environment as a strategy for transforming the urban setting into a learning tool for both students and teachers in training. ISU is also using its Noyce program to assess the value of problem-based learning in urban settings. The broader impacts include more and better STEM teachers and improved learning outcomes in an urban school district.

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This Phase II project is awarding forty-one scholarships to twenty- three students fulfilling the requirements to become secondary mathematics and science teachers. Undergraduate scholarship recipients are selected from eligible mathematics majors and those interested in seeking a double major of biology, chemistry or physics and science education. A third year of scholarship support is available to the double majors. Individuals with a prior STEM degree may receive a one-year scholarship. The Noyce Scholars are enrolled in a teacher preparation program utilizing innovative problem-based learning pedagogies and clinical field experiences in high needs settings.

Vigo County School Corporation, the fifth largest public school district in Indiana, has partnered with Indiana State University in the Professional Development Schools program for the past fourteen years. This school system with a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas provides a range of field experiences for the Noyce scholars. The close relationship between the university and the Vigo schools is exemplified by more than half the Vigo County school teachers holding a degree from Indiana State University.

PROJECT SUMMARY Deficits in chemosensory processing are associated with healthy aging, as well as numerous neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer?s Disease (AD). In many cases, chemosensory deficits are harbingers of neurodegenerative disease, and understanding the mechanistic basis for these changes may provide insight into fundamental dysfunction associated with aging and neurodegeneration. The genetic and physiological accessibility of chemosensory neurons and their defined higher order processing centers provide a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of aging-related processes on neural function, including sensory responsiveness, plasticity, and synaptic connectivity. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a powerful model for studying chemosensation, aging, and aging-related pathologies, yet the effects of aging on chemosensation remain largely unexplored in this model, particularly with respect to taste. A large genetic toolkit combined with functional imaging allow for cell-type specific manipulation of taste circuits. Numerous models of AD been developed in Drosophila that largely phenocopy two hallmarks of AD: amyloid beta (A?)-mediated toxicity and tauopathy caused by hyperphosphorylation of the Tau protein. My preliminary findings reveal that taste perception and taste memory deteriorate with age, and this is exacerbated in a fly model of AD. Here, I will examine the physiological and molecular basis for age-associated reduction in taste and taste memory in models of natural and pathological aging. These experiments build on my expertise in chemosensory processing and functional imaging, while providing training in aging and genomic approaches.