This Request for Information (RFI) invites community input on opportunities to facilitate collaborations between academic/clinical researchers and potential commercial partners, to enhance the development and dissemination of non-invasive brain imaging technologies. The RFI is open until April 14, 2022.
Starting in fiscal year 2014, the NIH released the following funding opportunities for the development of next generation non-invasive brain imaging technologies:
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Planning Grants (R24, 3 years): RFA-MH-14-217, RFA-MH-15-200
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Proof-of-Concept Testing (R01, 2 years): RFA-EB-17-001, RFA-EB-17-003, RFA-EB-19-001, RFA-EB-20-001
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Full Scale Development (U01, 5 years): RFA-EB-17-002, RFA-EB-17-004, RFA-EB-19-002
Together, these projects represent a diverse portfolio of next generation imaging modalities at different stages of development aimed at achieving goals of increased sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution, increased portability and compatibility with complex behaviors, and reduced cost. While these funded awards are scheduled to complete final design, construction, and testing over the next few years, full implementation of these technologies awaits.
Last year, the NIH BRAIN Initiative held separate workshops on Dissemination of BRAIN Non-Invasive Imaging Technologies and Transformative Non-Invasive Imaging Technologies, which suggested multiple junctures where projects may benefit from collaborative interactions between investigators and commercial entities. For example, through the BRAIN Initiative’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) Program, NIH provides a central source of information on invasive brain neuromodulation devices (i.e., stimulating and recording devices), as well as access to expertise offered by commercial participants. The NIH is interested in further understanding the potential utility of an effort to facilitate collaborations between technology developers, neuroscience researchers, and industry partners for non-invasive brain imaging. More specifically, NIH seeks information regarding strategies, potential roadblocks, and solutions that may be considered to enhance the feasibility, speed, and breadth of non-invasive brain imaging technology development and dissemination.
The NIH seeks input from community stakeholders, including academic and clinical researchers, industry representatives, scientific societies and advocacy organizations, federal agencies, as well as from interested members of the public. Input sought includes, but is not limited to, the following:
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Potential benefits the non-invasive imaging field may realize from collaboration between academic and/or clinical investigators and industry; what collaborative opportunities exist.
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Potential barriers to such opportunities that NIH could serve to mitigate.
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The ways in which the NIH might facilitate collaborations between academic/clinical institutions and industry.
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The stage of the technology development/optimization/dissemination pathway at which opportunities for collaborations between industry and academic/clinical institutions will be most realistic and beneficial. To what extent considerations of research vs. clinical markets affect the collaboration strategy.
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Lessons learned from prior experiences with such collaborations; what was and was not successful and why. The aspects you would do differently now.
For more information, please view the full RFI. Please submit comments by filling out this web form or submitting an email to BRAIN-Non-Invasive@nih.gov by April 14, 2022.