The BRAIN Blog

This seminar, taking place from October 27-30, will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the NIH grants process, programs, and policies – straight from the experts.  

The BRAIN community may be interested in several upcoming virtual events in October, including workshops, a town hall, and toolmaker series. Read this post to learn more about all of these exciting events.  

The 2020 NIH Director’s Awards include three BRAIN Initiative scientists, who have received grants through the High-Risk, High-Reward Program, Pioneer Award, and New Innovator Award.

NIH will be providing up to a two-receipt cycle of eligibility for prospective applicants to the BRAIN Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00) through the February/March 2021 due dates.

This F32 notice of funding opportunity supports research training of promising post-doctorates, early in their postdoctoral training period. The next deadlines for applications are in December 2020 and August 2021. NIH staff also recently recognized postdoctoral fellows for their efforts during National Postdoc Appreciation Week.

The BRAIN Initiative has recently launched two projects for high school students, a web-based, interactive, educational experience called the BRAIN Explorer and the BRAIN Initiative Challenge, an essay and video contest for high school students.

Taking the subjectivity out of pain measurement… Using holographic manipulations to understand optogenetic thresholds… Neurons to networks…Studying how parents perceive autism in their at-risk children…

Learned lick behavior may tell scientists more about brain-driven pain processes than reflexes

Recently, members of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Neuroethics Working Group (NEWG) and Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) discussed racial inequities in neuroscience and biomedicine, COVID-19 impacts on research, and future BRAIN funding.

This notice of funding opportunity supports the development of technologies, production efforts, and dissemination resources for a cell type-specific armamentarium to study brain function across species. Applications are due in February and October of 2021.

RFA-MH-20-556 Pilot resources for brain cell type-specific access and manipulation across vertebrate species (U01; clinical trial not allowed)

On September 23, 2020, the National Academies’ Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders will host a public workshop on transcriptomic differences in the brains of women versus men with brain disorders.