Notices of Funding Opportunities

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to develop standards that describe experimental protocols that are being conducted as part of The BRAIN Initiative®. It is expected that applications will solicit community input at all stages of the process. It is recommended that the first step of standard development will involve sharing data between different key groups in the experimental community in order to ensure that the developing standard will cover the way that all of those groups are collecting data. The developed standard is expected to be made widely available.

A central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to develop new and improved technologies suitable for recording from as well as controlling specified cell types and circuits to modulate and understand function in the central nervous system. In order to accomplish these goals, further information is needed to understand the function of current technologies used for recording or stimulating the nervous system. This RFA accepts grant applications in two related but distinct areas. The first is to systematically characterize, model, and validate the membrane, cellular, circuit, and adaptive-biological responses of neuronal and non-neuronal cells to various types of stimulation technologies. The second is to understand the biological and bioinformatic content of signals recorded from neuronal and non-neuronal cells and circuits. Development of new technologies, therapies and disease models, are outside the scope of this FOA. Activities related to enabling the simultaneous use of multiple recording or stimulation technologies are allowed.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial. Applicants to this FOA are permitted to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Applicants proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary study to an ongoing clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA.

The purpose of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00) program is to enhance workforce diversity in the neuroscience workforce and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NIH-supported, independent investigators from diverse backgrounds in BRAIN Initiative research areas. This program is designed to facilitate a timely transition of outstanding postdoctoral researchers with a research and/or clinical doctorate degree from mentored, postdoctoral research positions to independent, tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. The program will provide independent NIH research support during this transition in order to help awardees to launch competitive, independent research careers. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary study to an existing trial, as part of their research and career development. Applicants not planning an independent clinical trial, or proposing to gain research experience in a clinical trial led by another investigator, must apply to companion FOA.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), in support of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, aims to support full development of entirely new or next generation noninvasive human brain imaging tools and methods that will lead to transformative advances in our understanding of the human brain. The FOA seeks innovative applications that are ready for full-scale development of breakthrough technologies with the intention of delivering working tools. This FOA represents the second stage of the tool/technology development effort that started with RFA-MH-14-217 and RFA-MH-15-200

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits grant applications in two related but distinct areas. The first area is in the development and testing of novel tools and methods of neuromodulation that go beyond the existing forms of neural stimulation. The second distinct area that this FOA seeks to encourage is the optimization of existing stimulation methods.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), in support of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, aims to support early stage development of entirely new and novel noninvasive human brain imaging technologies and methods that will lead to transformative advances in our understanding of the human brain. The FOA solicits unusually bold and potentially transformative approaches and supports small-scale, proof-of-concept development based on exceptionally innovative, original and/or unconventional concepts.

The common marmoset has recently emerged as a promising model system to understand the primate brain. In particular, marmoset behavior is similar in many ways to human behavior and the technology for germ line transmission of exogenous genetic information is now possible. However, existing colonies and commercial sources are currently unable to provide sufficient marmosets for neuroscience research. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to expand existing colonies of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) for neuroscience research in the United States. Awardees under this FOA are expected to expand their current marmoset colonies to provide healthy, well-characterized animals that will be made available to the neuroscience research community. Awardees are also expected to participate in and provide health and genetic information to an NIH-Funded Marmoset Coordination Center to help the community understand the pedigree of individuals in the relatively small captive marmoset population and improve the genetic diversity of that population across multiple colonies.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to create a Marmoset Coordination Center. The awardee will be responsible for two separate but related activities. The first activity will be to become the repository for genomic, pedigree, and event records (date of birth, medical, reproductive history) for captive marmosets. The awardee is expected to use that information to help make breeding recommendations to maximize the health and genetic diversity of the marmosets in primate colonies. Applicants are encouraged to adopt the model used by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The second major activity of the awardee will be to maintain a web site and an information support center to assist neuroscience researchers who are used to working with other animal models so that they may assess the utility of including marmosets in their scientific research program. In cases where the neuroscientists want to move forward, the Coordination Center will link the investigators to marmoset colonies that may be able to facilitate their science.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages research grant applications directed toward developing next-generation human cell-derived assays that replicate complex nervous system architectures and physiology with improved fidelity over current capabilities. This includes technologies that do not rely on the use of human fetal tissue, as described in NOT-19-042. Supported projects will be expected to enable future studies of complex nervous system development, function and aging in healthy and disease states.