Junior Faculty Research Career Development in the Era of COVID-19.

This article is written from my perspective as the director of a Phase 1 Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant that established the Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity Center (CNAP; www.k-state.edu/ cnap) in July 2017. CNAP is located within the Department of Psychological Sciences on the central campus of Kansas State University (K-State) in Manhattan, Kansas. CNAP researchers study cognitive and neural plasticity in animal models, as well as conduct basic and clinical research in humans. Phase 1 research has focused on a variety of brain regions and circuits associated with diseases and disorders that impair healthy brain function (Figure 1). Researchers have studied multiple diseases and disorders in humans and in animal models, including alcohol and substance abuse, obesity, autism spectrum disorders, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, hearing disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.