Project Summary
Neuroscience stands at the precipice of a new depth of understanding about how the brain works thanks to recent
advances in imaging data acquisition technologies such as light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM).
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 Computational Framework for Distributed Registration of Massive Neuroscience Images
Investigator
Matthew Mccormick
Institute
kitware, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleA Genetic Engineering Toolbox for Marmosets (GETMarm): Development and optimization of genome editing and assisted reproduction techniques for marmoset models
Investigator
Guoping Feng
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
While mice are essential models for many areas of neuroscience, there are also many aspects of
higher brain function and dysfunction that cannot be adequately modeled in rodents. Thus, there is a need for
new genetic models that have brain structure and function closer to humans.
TitleA harmonized vendor-agnostic environment for multi-site functional MRI studies
Investigator
Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Maxim Zaitsev
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Since its invention in the early 90s, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revolutionized our un-
derstanding of the human brain. Functional MRI may be used to observe brain function during a specific motor
or cognitive task, or at “rest” (resting-state fMRI).
TitleA MEMS-Based High-Throughput Photostimulation Device with Commercial Backplane Integration
Investigator
Janelle Claire Shane
Institute
boulder nonlinear systems, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Boulder Nonlinear Systems (BNS) and Prof. Rikky Muller at UC-Berkeley propose a two-phase effort to address current speed limitations
in holographic photostimulation.
TitleA multi-plane 3-photon microscope for volume imaging in NHP cortex
Investigator
Jack Waters
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Recent advances in microscopy permit volume imaging - the near-simultaneous imaging of many neurons in a circuit -
with 2-photon (2P) excitation, yielding new insights into the circuits underlying relatively simple behaviors.
TitleA regulome and transcriptome atlas of fetal and adult human neurogenesis
Investigator
Long Cai, Patrick R Hof, Panagiotis Roussos, Nenad Sestan, Guo-Cheng Yuan
Institute
icahn school of medicine at mount sinai
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Dynamic changes in the spatiotemporal patterning of transcription factor binding on cis-regulatory DNA
elements drives the developmental transition of cell lineages during neurogenesis.
TitleA robust, low-cost platform for EM connectomics
Investigator
Daniel Joseph Bumbarger, R Clay Reid
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Over the past decade, serial-section electron microscopy has come into its own as a method to study the
connectivity of neural circuits, from local circuits in mammals to entire invertebrate brains.
TitleA scalable mass spectrometry platform for proteome mapping of brain tissues
Investigator
Tujin Shi
Institute
battelle pacific northwest laboratories
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The brain is the most complex organ in the mammalian body. Bulk analysis obscures heterogeneity of cell
types present even in the smallest brain regions.
TitleA Tool for Synapse-level Circuit Analysis of Human Cerebral Cortex Specimens.
Investigator
Jeff W Lichtman
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The goal of this work is to facilitate synaptic level analysis of neurons and their interconnecting microcircuits in
neurosurgical cerebral cortex biopsies from human patients.
TitleA web-based framework for multi-modal visualization and annotation of neuroanatomical data
Investigator
David Kleinfeld, Samuel Sheng-Hung Wang
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Modern experimental approaches allow researchers to collect a variety of whole-brain data from the same animal
via different anatomical labels, including tracers, genetic markers, and fiducial marks from recording electrodes.
Unfortunately, viewing and analysis methods have
TitleAcute Modulation of Stereotyped High Frequency Oscillations with a Closed-Loop Brain Interchange System in Drug Resistant Epilepsy
Investigator
Nuri Firat Ince
Institute
university of houston
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
High frequency oscillations (HFOs) of intracranial EEG (iEEG) have the potential to identify the surgical resection
area/seizure onset zone (SOZ) in patients with drug resistant epilepsy.
TitleAdvancing Bio-Realistic Modeling via the Brain Modeling ToolKit and SONATA Data Format
Investigator
Anton Arkhipov, Emad Tajkhorshid
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Advancing Bio-Realistic Modeling via the Brain Modeling ToolKit and SONATA Data Format
One of the major goals of the BRAIN Initiative is to distill complex, multi-modal data into predictive frameworks
via theory/modeling.
TitleAdvancing brain health research through male germline editing in marmosets
Investigator
Brian Peter Hermann, Jenny Hsieh, John R Mccarrey, Christopher Navara
Institute
university of texas san antonio
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Neuropsychiatric disorders represent a leading cause of disability, affecting nearly 19% of the US population.
Only 9% of neuropsychiatric drugs entering clinical trials reach the market, which is one of the lowest success
rates across all therapeutic areas.
TitleAdvancing Standardization of Neurophysiology Data Through Dissemination of NWB
Investigator
Benjamin K Dichter, Oliver Ruebel
Institute
university of calif-lawrenc berkeley lab
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Lack of standards for neurophysiology data and related metadata is the single greatest impediment to fully
extracting return on investment from neurophysiology experiments.
TitleAI based system for longitudinal, repeated measure analyses of freely moving C. elegans worms
Investigator
Jacob R Glaser
Institute
microbrightfield, llc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
This project aims to develop WormInvestigator™, a novel, highly innovative system for performing automated,
high-throughput and longitudinal studies of the behavior of C.
TitleAI-driven biomarker analysis of intact whole brains imaged at micron and sub-micron resolution
Investigator
Katherine Cora Ames, Dominic Mangiardi
Institute
lifecanvas technologies, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract. Whole-organ 3D immunohistochemistry is revolutionizing the field of neuroscience, enabling
unprecedented insight into the distribution of neural cells and neurological markers throughout the brain in health
and disease.
TitleAn Alignment Framework For Mapping Brain Dynamics and Substrates of Human Cognition Across Species
Investigator
Ting Xu
Institute
child mind institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The non-human primate (NHP) model is critical to the advancement of translational neuroscience, as it allows
researchers to link observations regarding macroscale brain dynamics and cognition in the human to underlying
meso- and microscale phenomena that cannot be fully investigated in huma
TitleAnteroTag, a Novel Method for Trans-Synaptic Delivery of Active Agents to Map and Modify Anterograde Populations
Investigator
Jason M Christie, Adam Hantman, Michael Roland Williams
Institute
michigan state university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
A goal of the BRAIN initiative is to develop and validate novel tools to map and manipulate neural circuits. The
definition and control of behaviorally relevant circuits requires both retrograde and anterograde trans-synaptic
technologies that perform well in vivo.
TitleAnticipating ethical challenges and disparities in the dissemination of novel neurotechnologies
Investigator
Winston Chiong, Daniel P. Dohan
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
A central goal for the second half of the BRAIN Initiative is to develop new circuit-based treatments for
brain diseases.
TitleBehavioral Analysis and Modeling Core
Investigator
Jonathan William Pillow
Institute
columbia univ new york morningside
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary/Abstract, Core D: Behavioral Analysis and Modeling
This proposal’s overarching goal is to understand how internal states influence decisions and to identify the
underlying neural mechanisms.