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NIH Announces $46 Million in First Round of Funding for BRAIN Initiative

October 01, 2014

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its first round of investments totaling $46 million under the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The $46 million will support more than 100 investigator-led research projects in 15 states and several countries to support the development of new tools and technologies to understand neural circuit function and capture a dynamic view of the brain in action. A “moon-shot” joint program between the several federal agencies including  NIH and National Science Foundation launched by the Obama administration (See related Digest article), the majority of the 1st round funding funding for the BRIAN initiative will be awarded to support research in five technical areas:

  • Classifying the myriad cell types in the brain;
  • Producing tools and techniques for analyzing brain cells and circuits;
  • Creating next-generation human brain imaging technology;
  • Developing methods for large-scale recordings of brain activity; and,
  • Integrating experiments with theories and models to understand the functions of specific brain circuits.

The BRAIN Initiative’s website provides a centralized source for the latest funding for brain-related research, event announcements and federal resources. The website currently has an open public request for information (RFI) on developing a federal strategy to stimulate public-private partnerships that will accelerate clinical access to next-generation stimulating/recording devices. Respondents should address one or more of four topic areas described in the announcement. Comments are due November 21. For more information about the BRAIN Initiative, visit: http://www.braininitiative.nih.gov

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