The University will not move forward with development of the proposed Center for Operational Neuroscience until concerns raised by members of the Yale and New Haven communities are fully investigated, School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern said in a Thursday night statement.

“Members of the Yale and New Haven communities have raised concerns about a possible Center for Operational Neuroscience that was reported in the press,” Stern said in the statement. “In light of the issues raised, we are not moving forward on any such center until we have fully investigated all these issues. It is a very important value of both the Yale School of Medicine and the broader University that all research participants, including all members of the New Haven community, are given the highest respect and protected from any unethical treatment.”

The statement is the second release about the proposed center from the University this week, following press coverage and opposition to the partnership with the Department of Defense. School of Medicine psychiatry professor Charles Morgan told the News he hoped to propose the center formally, which would teach soldiers interviewing techniques, once the Yale Office of Grant and Contract Administration secured a $1.8 million dollar grant from the Department of Defense.

The previous statement maintained that the potential program would meet appropriate academic standards, and denied that the center had been formally proposed.

JULIA ZORTHIAN