The BRAIN Blog

In June, we hosted the 8th Annual BRAIN Initiative Meeting. I relish this yearly event as an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the incredible progress from this foundational Initiative as we anticipate the next set of discoveries and innovations. Planning this meeting is an enormous exercise logistically. I am deeply grateful for the tireless efforts of the NIH staff and program committee who made it not only possible, but also successful despite all the curveballs thrown at us by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The NIH announced this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) with interest in team-centric non-invasive imaging technologies to understand brain function and connectivity. The earliest submission date is September 13, 2022, and the subsequent application deadline is October 13, 2022.  

The Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House will host a virtual event on Thursday, July 28, 2022, that will cover promising areas of research to address the Nation’s mental health crisis.  

The Brain Image Library will be hosting a virtual Data Submission and Visualization workshop on July 27 and 28. Registration is now open! 

This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) encourages the translation of BRAIN Initiative-supported technologies developed by academic and small business sectors for commercial dissemination. The next application deadline is September 5, 2022.  

The Neuro Technology Center (NTC) at Columbia University and the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) are co-hosting an interdisciplinary symposium to explore the intersection of nanoscience and neuroscience on July 21, 2022.  

Columbia University created the Neuro Technology Center (NTC) in response to the founding of the BRAIN Initiative. The center is a network of interdisciplinary tool-building laboratories that aims to develop next generation neurotechnologies to better understand how the brain works.  

The next application deadline for the BRAIN Initiative: Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs – Team BCP is Friday, September 16, 2022. 

Dr. Michael Young is an F32 award recipient who is using the funding opportunity to help further develop his career and research on neurotechnologies and neuroethics. The F32 funding opportunity supports the research training of promising postdoctorates early in their postdoctoral training period.

Registration is now open until July 31 to participate in a hybrid workshop and gain in-depth knowledge about an exciting tool for characterization of fluorescent probes – the two-photon spectrometer.

This spring, the BRAIN Initiative launched an essay and video challenge for high school students to discuss their perspectives on the ethical considerations of emerging brain technologies. The winners were announced live last week via an online broadcast.