The thirteenth meeting of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) included discussion of upcoming strategic planning discussions with the NIH Director’s Advisory Committee, as well as consideration of concept clearances for funding opportunities.
On May 16th, 2019, the Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative® held its thirteenth meeting. The group provides ongoing oversight of the long-term scientific vision of the BRAIN Initiative, in the context of the evolving neuroscience landscape. MCWG members include a liaison to the Advisory Council of each of the 10 Institutes and Centers that contribute to the NIH BRAIN Initiative, with additional at-large members appointed to supplement the working group’s expertise. The group also includes ex officio members from DARPA, FDA, IARPA, and NSF—four of NIH’s federal partners involved in the BRAIN Initiative.
In opening remarks, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, NINDS Director, mentioned the success of the recent BRAIN Initiative Investigators (PI) Meeting, which was held from April 11-13, 2019, with approximately 1600 registrants (a 33% increase over last year). The conference included scientific presentations, poster sessions, a three-part communications workshop, and an inaugural photo and video contest. Read more about the 2019 BRAIN PI meeting here.
Dr. John Maunsell, co-chair of the NIH ACD BRAIN Initiative Working Group (WG) 2.0, provided an update on the group’s Report, which was presented to the Advisory Committee of the NIH Director earlier today, June 14th, 2019. The group lauded the success of the first half of the Initiative, noting that it will be important to continue the momentum of technology development. Examples of areas that will require increased effort include research on artificial technology and theory, distributing the new technologies that have been developed, and public engagement around neuroscience. The WG also identified potential large-scale, transformative projects including pinpointing specific circuits implicated in diseases, mapping the entire mouse brain and determining circuits controlling specific behaviors, and learning how the brain retrieves stored information.
Dr. Jim Eberwine, a member of the BRAIN MCWG and Neuroethics Working Group and co-chair of the BRAIN Neuroethics Subgroup (BNS) of the ACD BRAIN Initiative WG 2.0, provided an overview of the BNS, which has been charged with considering the neuroethical implications that arise from BRAIN Initiative funded research and developing a Neuroethics Roadmap for the BRAIN Initiative, also presented to the ACD on June 14th. The report discusses examples of neuroethics-related issues unique to BRAIN, including unexpected consequences of precise brain circuit manipulation with tools developed via the BRAIN Initiative, and companies needing to be aware of potential neuroethical implications of widespread use of their products.
Three concept clearances were presented to the MCWG. The first concerned the development of alternatives to models of the developing human nervous system. This NOFO will focus on creating three-dimensional systems that contain human cells, to improve our understanding of brain development, which is currently restricted due to technical limitations and ethical concerns. Two additional concept clearances on marmoset research were also presented, focusing on the development of genetic tools and technologies to improve our understanding of primate brains, and to develop colonies and coordinate distribution of animals for research.
For more information, please view the MCWG meeting summary(pdf, 159 KB) and the archived videocast of the meeting.