The BRAIN Blog

The 2021 class of new National Academy of Medicine (NAM) members includes Drs. Kafui Dzirasa, Zhigang He, and Feng Zhang, scientists who have been supported by BRAIN Initiative funds.

A recent virtual workshop hosted by the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) brought together representatives from the International Brain Initiative (IBI) to discuss approaches to shaping the future of international neuroscience collaborations.

Findings from the NIH BRAIN Cell Census Network (BICCN), an international collaborative effort by more than 250 scientists at more than 45 institutions across 3 continents, appear as 17 associated papers published in a dedicated October issue of the journal Nature, with ten additional papers also seeing publication in Nature Neuroscience and other journals.

A virtual workshop organized by The National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) will bring together cross-disciplinary experts to discuss scientific advances in genetics and neuroscience this October 5 and 6.

The 2021 cohort of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigators includes six BRAIN-funded scientists, while three investigators, including BRAIN Multi-Council Working Group member Karl Deisseroth, were honored with the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their breakthrough work on optogenetics.

Last month, members of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Neuroethics Working Group (NEWG) and Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) discussed the ethics of research participant payment, diversifying brain tissue donation, the BRAIN Initiative Investigators meeting, and more.

This recently-issued Request for Information (RFI) invites stakeholder input on the utility and useability of sample language developed for use in informed consent documents for data and biospecimen sharing. The RFI is open until September 29, 2021.

This Notice of Special Interest encourages eligible BRAIN Initiative awardees to apply for supplemental funds that will promote diversity in health-related research.

The BRAIN Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives encourages the research community to broadly consider how diverse perspectives advance the proposed specific aims and are integral to equity and inclusion in their science. 

OpenScope opens the Allen Brain Observatory platform to the community, allowing for more sophisticated hypotheses testing on brain function.