The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative
promotes the development and application of technologies to describe the temporal and spatial
dynamics of cell types and neural circuits in the brain.
Funded Awards
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) BRAIN Initiative funds a wide-variety of research: toolmakers, trainees, individual labs testing new hypotheses, and large, team-based efforts aiming to catalyze neuroscience inquiry forward. Explore NIH BRAIN Initiative funded awards listed below. Click on the project title to learn more about it within NIH RePORTER.
To see more NIH-funded awards and associated publications, please visit the NIH RePORTER.
Title
Investigator(s)
Institution
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunity #
Project #
TitleA BRAIN Initiative Resource: The Neuroscience Multi-omic Data Archive
Investigator
Anup Mahurkar, Owen R White
Institute
university of maryland baltimore
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleA Community Resource for Single Cell Data in the Brain
Investigator
Michael Hawrylycz, Carol Lynn Thompson
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) will generate comprehensive molecular taxonomies and
organizational principles of cell type diversity in the human and non-human primate extending comprehensive
BICCN work in the mouse.
TitleA Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy Brain Data Archive
Investigator
Marcel P Bruchez, Alexander J Ropelewski, Alan Michael Watson
Institute
carnegie-mellon university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Brain image data collected by the neuroscience community will continue to grow
dramatically in the next 5-10 years as the push to image physically larger volumes, such as
whole brains from humans and other primates, becomes a focus.
TitleA Multidisciplinary Center for Developing Human and Non-human Primate Brain Cell Atlases
Investigator
Aparna Bhaduri, Marcel Daadi, Hao Huang, Arnold Kriegstein, Jon E Levine, Tomasz Nowakowski, Alexander A Pollen, Nenad Sestan
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The ultimate product of our Center will be a series of comprehensive developing human and non-human primate
(NHP) brain atlases of unprecedented cellular, spatial, and anatomical resolution.
TitleA Shared Neuroscience Platform for National Dissemination and Training in Brain Organogenesis, Behavioral and Brain Disease Models, Viral Vectors, and Imaging Technologies
Investigator
William T Newsome, Sergiu Pasca, Mehrdad Shamloo, Gordon X Wang
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Advances in neuroscience depend on robust in vivo and in vitro models with innovative technologies to carry out
functional and mechanistic studies accompanied by advanced imaging techniques.
TitleA versatile approach for highly multiplexed, high-resolution imaging of endogenous molecules
Investigator
Linnaea E Ostroff
Institute
university of connecticut storrs
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The quest to understand the brain’s complex structure has become more challenging as the high
degree of molecular heterogeneity among brain cells has become evident in recent years.
TitleAberrant Signaling from Brain Tumors Regulates Distant and Local Environments
Investigator
Kaysaw C Tuy
Institute
university of alabama at birmingham
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Perturbations in redox signaling are associated with multiple neurological disorders, ranging from
neurodegenerative diseases to brain tumors.
TitleAccelerating connectomic proofreading for larger brains and multiple individuals
Investigator
Mala Murthy
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Technology for automating the segmentation of neurons from electron microscopic (EM) data has improved
dramatically, making it now possible to obtain accurate reconstructions of neural circuits from large EM
volumes.
TitleAccelerating discovery of the human foveal microconnectome with deep learning
Investigator
Dennis Michael Dacey
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The human retina is one of the most complex microcircuits of the central nervous system (CNS) and is a model
of CNS neurodegenerative disease with unique advantages for microconnectomics technology advancement.
The central retina or fovea mediates high acuity vision, drives activity
TitleAcoustic modulation of forebrain aggression network in miniature, transparent vocal fish
Investigator
Andrew H Bass
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Assessing social signals, such as vocalizations, figures prominently in the outcome of aggressive encounters,
including the potential to win a fight or prevent escalation resulting in physical injury.
TitleAn Atlas of Human Brain Cell Variation
Investigator
Evan Z Macosko, Steven Andrew Mccarroll
Institute
broad institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The human brain exhibits profound diversity in biological function and vulnerability to disease. Despite the
biomedical and cultural importance of inter-individual variation, we know relatively little about its underlying
cellular and molecular substrates.
TitleAn Ecosystem of Technology and Protocols for Adaptive Neuromodulation Research in Humans
Investigator
Peter Brunner, Kai Miller, Gregory A Worrell
Institute
mayo clinic rochester
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Neurological and psychiatric disorders affect millions of people in the United States and worldwide, and produce
a third of all health care costs.
TitleAn extensible brain knowledge base and toolset spanning modalities for multi-species data-driven cell types
Investigator
Satrajit Sujit Ghosh, Michael Hawrylycz, Shoaib Mufti, Lydia Lup-Ming Ng
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) is completing a comprehensive cell census of the adult mouse
brain, and BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) will extend this work with emphasis on human and non-
human primates.
TitleAn Integrated Neurochemical/Electrophysiological Recording and Neuromodulation System for Basic and Clinical Research
Investigator
Kevin Elliott Bennet, Kendall Lee
Institute
wincs international, llc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
WINCS International LLC, in partnership with Mayo Clinic, proposes to develop and demonstrate a highly
innovative next-generation clinical instrument together with custom user-friendly display and analysis software.
For the first time, the Multifunctional Apparatus for Voltammetry, E
TitleAnatomical connectivity and activity in primary visual cortex of mouse
Investigator
Zachary Samuel Pitkow, Andreas Tolias
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Estimates of the total length of axonal "wiring" in the human brain are on the order of hundreds of thousands
of kilometers.
TitleAssessment of Behavioral Deficits in Minipig Model of Pediatric Concussion
Investigator
Alesa Hughson Netzley
Institute
michigan state university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading health concern for both children and adults worldwide.
TitleBasic neural processing mechanisms of live human face viewing
Investigator
Megan Kelley
Institute
yale university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Significance. The human brain has a dedicated neural system for processing other humans. However relatively
little is known about the basic mechanisms of this processing.
TitleBCI-DEF: Brain Computer Interfaces and Disability: Developing an Inclusive Ethical Framework
Investigator
Karen G Hirsch, Holly K Tabor
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The objective of “Brain Computer Interfaces and Disability: Developing an Inclusive Ethical Framework (BCI-
DEF)” is to use structured vignettes, video-supported interviews, and a deliberative democracy approach to
assess and analyze diverse, critical stakeholder perspective
TitleBehavioral feedback and rewards for improving functional brain mapping in presurgical pediatric patients
Investigator
Ken Bruener, Damien A Fair, Jarod Roland
Institute
turing medical technologies inc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract/Summary
The objective of this psychological technology SBIR/STTR Fast-Track proposal is to provide an innovative
gamified biofeedback solution (software-only) to improve the effectiveness of functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRI) for pediatric pre-neurosurgical planning.
TitleBidirectional circuits of locus ceruleus and motor cortex neurons
Investigator
Gordon M Shepherd
Institute
northwestern university at chicago
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Primary motor cortex (M1) and the locus ceruleus (LC) both contribute in essential ways to the generation of
purposive movements – with M1 and its pyramidal tract (PT) neurons involved in action planning and execution,
the and LC and its noradrenergic axonal projections involved in a