This proposal responds to BRAIN Initiative RFA-NS-20-006 and aims to elucidate the neural and biophysical mechanisms of noninvasive focused ultrasound (FUS) neuromodulation.
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 #
TitleBiophysical and Neural Basis of Focused Ultrasound Stimulation
Investigator
Charles F Caskey, Li Min Chen
Institute
vanderbilt university medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleBRAIN Initiative: Hierarchical Event Descriptors (HED): a system to characterize events in neurobehavioral data
Investigator
Scott Makeig, Kay A Robbins, Arnaud Delorme
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This two-year project will advance, integrate, document, and promote the use of the Hierarchical
Event Descriptor (HED) system to describe events in human neuroimaging and behavioral data
from research experiments and other sources in sufficient detail to support comparative analysis
of human brain
TitleBRAIN Integrated Resource for Human Anatomy and Intracranial Neurophysiology
Investigator
Dominique Duncan, Nader Pouratian
Institute
ut southwestern medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Intracranial recordings in patients undergoing neurosurgical interventions provide a unique opportunity to directly
access, study, and learn about both normal human brain function and neuropsychiatric disease.
TitleBroadening access with an Armamentarium Vector Core Powered by Inclusive Research Experiences
Investigator
Viviana Gradinaru, Timothy Francis Shay
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
The AAV BRAIN Safe and Effective Neuromodulator and Sensor Utilization across Species (SENSUS, led by
Caltech) of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium Project will develop, validate, and disseminate integrated
(capsid and genome) engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) tools to mon
TitleBroadly Accessible Technologies for Single-cell Joint Analysis of Transcriptome and Epigenome
Investigator
Bing Ren
Institute
epigenome technologies, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Opportunity Number PA-20-265
Project Number
Histone modifications carry rich information of cellular memory and gene regulatory mechanisms.
TitleCAJAL: A computational framework for the combined morphometric, transcriptomic, and physiological analysis of cells
Investigator
Pablo Gonzalez Camara
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Morphology is an essential phenotype in the characterization of cells and their states. It reflects the progression
of functional cellular processes, such as morphogenesis, migration, or dendrite arborization, and can be
indicative of disease.
TitleCaring for BRAIN pioneers: Understanding and enhancing family and researcher support in neural device trials
Investigator
Sara Goering, Eran Klein
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project abstract
BRAIN pioneers are people who take on significant risk as participants in first-in-human or early
neurotechnology studies for the sake of helping to further science.
TitleCell Type-specific Anterograde Circuit Mapping and Functional Control by Optimizing YFV-17D Transneuronal Systems
Investigator
Wei Xu
Institute
ut southwestern medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Cell Type-specific Anterograde Circuit Mapping and Functional Control by
Optimizing YFV-17D Transneuronal Systems
Summary
To elucidate the functional organization of brain circuitry we need to delineate neuronal
connectivity and control the activity of neurons with specific connectivity.
TitleCircuit dynamics of structuring episodic memories in humans
Investigator
Jie Zheng
Institute
boston children's hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary
Our lives unfold over time, weaving rich, dynamic, and multisensory information into a continuous experience.
However, we remember this as a series of discrete events. For example, the memory of a two-hour movie
consists of a few memorable moments tied to the main story.
TitleCircuits for spontaneous behavior and phototaxis in a simple model chordate
Investigator
William Smith
Institute
university of california santa barbara
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This proposal will investigate neural circuits driving negative phototaxis in an emerging model for neural circuit
analysis: larvae of the primitive chordate Ciona. Ciona larvae have a number of features that make them
ideally suited for this project.
TitleClosed-Loop Systems for Large Scale Spatiotemporal Imaging and Actuation of Neural Activity in Freely Behaving Animals
Investigator
Daniel Aharoni, Hugh T Blair, Peyman Golshani
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
A major challenge in neuroscience is to uncover how defined neural circuits in the brain encode, store, modify, and retrieve information. Adding to this challenge is the fact that neural function does not operate in isolation but rather within living, behaving animals.
TitleCommercialization of integrated electrode-electronics system for large scale, long-lasting electrophysiology
Investigator
Loren M Frank, Mattias Peter Karlsson, Chong Xie, Jan Zimmermann
Institute
spikegadgets, llc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Examining how behavior arises from the complex interconnected activity of the brain is a
cornerstone of neuroscience research. A recent technological advance in neurotechnology is
enabling studies where the parallel activity of thousands of neurons can be studied in rodent
brains.
TitleDataJoint SciOps: A Managed Service for Neuroscience Data Workflows
Investigator
Dimitri Yatsenko
Institute
vathes inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary
This SBIR proposal aims to address current challenges in data-driven neuroscience by implementing DataJoint
SciOps: a commercial service to help research labs implement computational workflows for data-intensive science
experiments.
TitleDeciphering the genomic mechanisms underlying the physiology of human brain stimulation
Investigator
Genevieve Konopka, Bradley C Lega
Institute
ut southwestern medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The underlying mechanisms of brain stimulation in humans are poorly understood, especially at the level of gene expression.
TitleDeep and fast imaging using adaptive excitation sources
Investigator
Chris Xu
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Optical recordings of activity are critical to probe neural systems because they provide high-resolution,
non-invasive measurements, ranging from single neurons to entire populations in intact nervous systems, and
are readily combined with genetic methods to provide cell type-specific reco
TitleDefining the circuit, synaptic, and molecular mechanisms linking intracellular Ca2+ release to learning using subcellularly-targeted manipulations and imaging techniques in dendrites in vivo
Investigator
Justin O'hare
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Candidate Goals and Mission Relevance: The applicant’s broad, long-term objective is to investigate how high-
(circuit/behavioral) and low- (subcellular/molecular) level organizational principles of the brain cooperate to drive
learning.
TitleDevelopment and Validation of a Genetically Encoded Method to Trace and Manipulate Neuronal Circuits in Zebrafish
Investigator
Carlos Lois, David Aaron Prober
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Identifying how neurons are connected to each other in the brain is an important and necessary step towards
understanding how brain activity gives rise to behavior, and how it is perturbed by disease.
TitleDevelopment of a Miniaturized Wearable Ultrasonic Beam-forming Device for Localized Targeting of Brain Regions in Freely-moving Experimental Subjects
Investigator
Kevin A Snook
Institute
actuated medical, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This Phase I SBIR will further develop, validate, and initiate commercialization of the miniature ultrasound
beamforming array (MUBA) system for transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS).
TitleDevelopment of a sample preparation protocol for brain ultrastructural analysis, immunolabeling, and neuronal tracing by light microscopy
Investigator
Ons M'saad
Institute
panluminate inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Understanding its neural connections and molecular
anatomy requires imaging technology that is capable of mapping the 3D nanoscale distribution of specific
proteins in the context of brain ultrastructure.
TitleDevelopment of kinase biosensors for multiplex neuronal imaging of signaling pathways in behaving mice
Investigator
Richard L Huganir, Jin Zhang
Institute
johns hopkins university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Cell signaling pathways in the brain are an essential part of a complex system regulating the activity and
coordination of neuronal networks.