Course Evaluation

Training in Neurotherapeutics Discovery and Development for Academic Scientists is rigorously evaluated after each course offering to allow continuous improvement.

In 2021, we surveyed participants in the 2013 to 2020 course offerings. The following comments were received in this survey –

The course gave me a comprehensive overview of drug discovery and development process as well as pitfalls that I should look out for. Most importantly, discussions with mentors and fellow trainees gave me ideas to develop my new project which I have received a good score from NIH review panels and hope to receive funding award.
Before I enrolled in the neurotherapeutics course I was naive about the multiple steps a researcher must follow to successfully discover a drug and the amount of time it will require to transition basic research to clinical research. Also, I strongly feel that I learned several key lessons to develop neurotherapeutics that will significantly impact my current and future projects. For example, due to the course I still have a better understanding of the assays required to obtain an IND. In addition, the course helped me improve my knowledge on the guidelines established by the FDA to safely deliver and prepare therapeutics for human consumption. Altogether, the presenters did a great job explaining complex topics and I often review the material provided by the neurotherapeutics course to decide which experiments I will perform to convince reviewers that a drug is a viable neurotherapeutic
This program offered unique interactions with both experts in the field of neurotherapeutics as well as other novices which was a great opportunity to learn. The experts were able to speak from experience and outline the numerous steps needed to take drug development to the next step and the unique challenges that come with attempting to deliver drugs past the blood brain barrier. But interactions with other scientists just beginning to learn was also helpful and inspiring to meet others with similar goals. Drug discovery is a hard road so it is invaluable to have these types of interactions that often are not available at each institution/program.
I learned so much. The mentors are so knowledgeable and kind. Great to have these mentors whom I can contact when I encounter questions and issues.

Following the 2016 course offering, 100% of those responding to the question "Would you recommend this course to your colleagues?" selected "Yes."

Sample narrative responses to the 2016 course evaluation –

It was a great opportunity for learning, networking, and developing/refining proposal ideas in the area of neurotherapeutics. It was a great course.
The course was awesome. Exposing myself to different field expertise like chemist and pharmacologist is rare and it was great opportunity have interaction with other field scientists. This training expand my knowledge to new field and networking to new people. Overall it was great experience. I will strongly recommend this course to my colleagues.
This course was an incredible experience! All mentors with expertise in varied aspects of drug discovery and development shared very knowledgeable information and resources, sufficient for the mentees to embark on drug discovery research and fine tune their approaches.
Phenomenal course and excellent learning experience! The faculty were honestly incredible! Thank you so much for the opportunity!
I really enjoyed the round robin exercises to interact with fellow classmates and faculty mentors. It was an excellent exercise to learn how to effectively share our ideas and give and receive feedback.
The course was exceptional! the best i have attended thus far on this topic. i came out motivated to invest in learning more especially with the tools that we got from the course.
It was a highly informative and well-organized workshop. It is an excellent stimulus package for any researcher who aspires to do translational research in the area of CNS drug discovery.
Each and every speaker was excellent in their own way. There was never a dull moment in this fast paced, fascinatingly intense course that defined the steps to neurotherapeutics. I will recommend the course to all my colleagues.
This was an excellent course. It was great to have all subject areas covered in detail and presented in a logical fashion – from initial concepts to optimization to preclinical studies. The information presented was outstanding and will provide a useful resource for my future career. It was great to have both academic and industry represented in an open and collaborative environment. I am grateful to have access to mentors to get feedback and advice for future research ideas and projects.
Amazing course. The amount of networking with experts in every aspect of drug discovery was amazing. I feel empowered to go into the drug discovery efforts in the future. The amount of intimate interaction with world experts in their field was priceless.
Wonderful course. I was exhausted, but excited. I learned sooo much.
Awesome course – really enjoyed it and learned a ton

Following the 2015 course offering, 100% of those responding to the question "Would you recommend this course to your colleagues?" selected "Yes."

Sample narrative responses to the 2015 course evaluation –

This training was amazing and I am more prepared to face the challenges in my career. I look forward to putting the knowledge I acquired to a productive use!
Overall, this was a great experience. The lectures were superb in terms of delivering the complex process of drug discovery.
Larger coffee cups would be very useful!! I found myself having to make multiple trips out to refill my cup. I was very pleased that the provided coffee was actually pretty good. I liked the dinner at the Sea Catch Restaurant.
The team of complementary experts was exceptional and dedicated to provide the best and most time-efficient platform to students on the critical topic of drug discovery and development for CNS diseases. It was a privilege to have participated in this training course. I appreciated that the whole training course was run in a time-efficient manner, making the sacrifice of getting behind my duties all worth it. Kudos to all the first-class organizers!!!
A grateful thank you to all of the faculty that participated in the Round-Robin interactions. Some valuable insights were provided. It would have cost thousands of dollars in consultant fees and a lot of my time to get this quality of expert feedback. Thanks again.
This course is a step in the right direction to accelerate the CNS drug development process.

Following the 2014 course offering, 100% of those responding to the question "Would you recommend this course to your colleagues?" selected "Yes."

Sample narrative responses to the 2014 course evaluation –

This course was transformative in my thinking towards how I want to shape my career as a translational scientist. In a succinct way, the course brought me to speed on major issues and steps in the drug discovery process. Thank you very much!
All the lectures are impressive and I found something novel in each session.
Thank you for organizing this excellent course and allowing me to have the opportunity to experience this wonderful training course. Although the course in general is very intense and exhausting, those who can survive and paid attention would learn a great deal of new knowledge. Excellent!
For me, the engagement exercises were the most useful aspects of the course, and I valued the personalized insight of the faculty.
I appreciate everyone's efforts. Awesome course ever.
Importantly, the course appeared to be comprehensive (from my naive perspective). I left with a solid picture of the entire process from screen to IND and that is what I came for. Redundancy was minor and I think that the most crucial of topics were covered in sufficient depth. The course was concise and I appreciate that. Thank you.
This has tremendously expanded my drug discovery and development knowledge and given me an expansive network of experts to call upon. Thank you for the opportunity to participate!
Fantastic course. Well organized, timely, pertinent. Course directors are totally engaged, enthusiastic and helpful. Will definitely help my translational research career!
Great course, great faculty! Thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks for the opportunity.