Mind Body Systems Lab

Teaching

Courses, hands-on training, and educational outreach.

Current courses

MEDS I8200 Translational Research Design (CUNY)

Instructors: Drs. Ali Karimi and Renée Hartig
Term: Fall Semester  ·  Level: Graduate (Requisite for Master’s in Translational Medicine)

Translational Research Design is an interdisciplinary graduate course spanning translational medicine and biostatistics. Students develop research questions, formulate hypotheses, and perform and interpret statistical analyses in SPSS and Python, while learning to critically evaluate preclinical and clinical research. The course culminates in a data-analysis project with a written report and oral presentation.

Dr. Hartig with Guest Lecturer Ian Chong and the 2025-26 MTM Cohort after the MEDS I8200 Final, December 2025
Dr. Hartig with Guest Lecturer Ian Chong and the 2025-26 MTM Cohort after the MEDS I8200 Final (December 2025).
The 2025-26 MTM Cohort with Dr. Hartig and MTM Program Director Chris Fritton
The 2025–26 MTM Cohort with Dr. Hartig and MTM Program Director Chris Fritton.
The 2025-26 MTM Cohort with Dr. Hartig and Program Director Chris Fritton at CCNY Commencement
The 2025–26 MTM Cohort with Dr. Hartig and Program Director Chris Fritton at CCNY Commencement.

NSC 806 Research Grant Writing
BioRTC / University of Maiduguri

Instructors: Drs. Mahmoud Maina and Renée Hartig
Term: Second Semester  ·  Level: M.Sc. Neuroscience

NSC 806 introduces graduate students to the craft of scientific grant writing, from identifying funding opportunities to developing a compelling research question, specific aims, and budget. Through peer review, students draft and refine a full proposal, building the writing and strategic skills needed to fund their own research.

NSC 906 Adv Research Grant Writing II
BioRTC / University of Maiduguri

Instructors: Drs. Mahmoud Maina and Renée Hartig
Term: Second Semester  ·  Level: Ph.D. Neuroscience

A doctoral-level continuation of the grant-writing sequence, NSC 906 moves from proposal fundamentals to competitive, fundable applications. Students develop a full research proposal aligned to a target funding scheme, strengthen their specific aims and study design, and exchange structured peer review to sharpen their scientific argument and narrative.

Past courses

Stereotaxic Surgery Course (University of Port Harcourt)

Instructors: Drs. Ali Karimi, Jack Martin, Andreas Kotowicz, Anastasia Lado, Renée Hartig
Term: October 2022  ·  Level: University-Level
Stereotaxic Surgery training cohort, TReND in Africa, University of Port Harcourt, October 2022
Stereotaxic Surgery training cohort · TReND in Africa · University of Port Harcourt, October 2022.

Mentorship & outreach

Training the next generation.

Beyond formal coursework, the lab is committed to hands-on training and to broadening access to neuroscience. Renée mentors students and early-career researchers in multi-modal neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and rigorous experimental design, and organizes educational programming that connects researchers across institutions and continents.

She leads the Collaborative Science Symposium (CSS), a traveling symposium that builds neuroscience capacity and community, including partnerships across sub-Saharan Africa. She also contributes to TReND in Africa and to the establishment of the BioRTC bioimaging and training centre in Western Africa.