Trinity College is known for offering lots of opportunities for its students, including a neuroscience curriculum, which is rare for a liberal arts college.
But you can’t emulate a healthcare setting on a college campus, which is why a partnership between the Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute at Hartford Hospital and Trinity College is so important.
The longtime Hartford landmarks, which are just blocks away from each other, have signed an agreement for up to 20 Trinity students a year to conduct research in neuroscience — with the hope that some of them will end up working in the neuroscience field in the future.
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, president and Trinity College professor of neuroscience, and Mark Alberts, MD, Physician-in Chief of the Neuroscience Institute and Chief of the Department of Neurology at Hartford Hospital, signed the agreement in a ceremony on May 15 at Hartford Hospital.
Trinity students interested in internships or research within the many neuroscience specialties will be paired with physicians and researchers at Hartford Hospital.
Alberts and Berger-Sweeney agreed that the partnership is a win-win for both institutions. While Trinity students will have unprecedented access to research, it could serve as pipeline for Hartford HealthCare to recruit the neuroscience leaders of the future. Trinity has a five-year B.A./M.A. neuroscience program, and will soon open its Crescent Center for Arts and Neuroscience.
“Trinity is stimulating young minds to go into neuroscience,” said Berger-Sweeney.
“On a national level, we cannot find enough good grads to go into the neurosciences,” said Dr. Alberts. “There is a shortage of bright, young minds to do this … the need is huge because a lot of the diseases we treat are diseases of an aging population. With the baby boomers getting older, we need these young minds to provide care and to be on the next frontier of research.”
“We want this to be the start of a very strong partnership that we can continue,” said Berger-Sweeney.