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 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 Novel Wireless and Subcellular Device for Neuromodulation
Investigator
Deblina Sarkar
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Implantable interfaces for neuromodulation is necessary to advance fundamental neuroscience research,
develop new treatments for neurological disorders, and create efficient breakthrough neuroprosthetics.
However, modern implants based on multi-electrode arrays suffer from low spatial resolution, hi
TitleA robotic multi-armed two-photon microscope for imaging neural interactions across multiple brain areas
Investigator
Mark J Schnitzer
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Among the BRAIN Initiative’s most important achievements are the genetic identification of many new neurons- types and the creation of genetic tools to access these cell types.
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 staged, comprehensive investigation for developing insular deep brain stimulation to treat refractory chronic pain
Investigator
William Jeffrey Elias, Chang-Chia Liu
Institute
university of virginia
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Patients with refractory chronic pain typically do not respond to traditional analgesics or weak opioids
as these agents do not directly address the cause for their pain.
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.
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.
TitleAdvancing epilepsy diagnosis with flexible, high-resolution thin-film electrodes
Investigator
Robert Kyle Franklin, Daniel Friedman, Bijan Pesaran, Florian Solzbacher, Jonathan Viventi
Institute
new york university school of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
To advance the development of next-generation personalized therapies for long-term seizure freedom, we
urgently need technologies that improve seizure diagnostics while reducing risks associated with invasive
neurosurgical procedures.
TitleAn acquisition and reconstruction framework to enable mesoscale human fMRI on clinical 3 Tesla scanners
Investigator
Kawin Setsompop
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Functional MRI (fMRI) is the most widely-used tool to noninvasively measure brain function and has produced
much of our current knowledge about the functional organization of the human brain.
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 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.
TitleAutomated microfluidic hyperpolarization reactor for neurometabolic imaging
Investigator
Patrick Tomhon, Carlos Dedesma
Institute
vizma life sciences, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Brain function is regulated by molecular signaling and metabolism, however, our ability to track neurometabolic transformations deep in the brain is very underdeveloped compared to the central role of neurometabolism in neurodegenerative disease or brain function in general.
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