BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

RFA-NS-22-011

The overall goal of this FOA is to accelerate the scientific impact of the BRAIN Initiative through rapid dissemination of developed and validated technologies and resources broadly to the neuroscience research community. Awards from this RFA will be made for no more than 5 years, with a possibility of one renewal.

Projects may accomplish this goal by engaging in one or more of the following types of activities:

• Production and distribution of reagents (e.g., antibodies, chemical probes, transgenic lines) using quality control manufacturing processes
• Services providing customized instrumentation based on end user needs
• Provision of state-of-art components, devices, or integrated systems (e.g., for assaying neural activity and/or connectivity) either distributed to end users or operated as specialized core facilities with user engagement
• Resources focused on enabling the translation of neurotechnologies for human use
• Maintenance, minor enhancements, and distribution of open source computational models and software packages
• User facilities that enable scientists from outside institutions to utilize specialized tools or techniques
• Training in usage of the resource

The following are examples of projects responsive to this FOA. These are representative, but not exhaustive, examples.

• Consortium that provides screening services for voltage sensors and other probes for identifying changes in membrane potential or network modulatory states
• Resource that provides reliable multichannel microelectrodes to the neuroscience community that are compatible with other recording technologies, such as optical imaging and stimulation or MRI
• Imaging services for large-scale recording of neural activity from multiple brain areas or for large-scale sampling/manipulation of cellular activity with simultaneous whole-brain activity measurements
• Dissemination of novel miniaturized wireless imaging systems and serving as a core resource for researchers
• A resource that gathers, standardizes and streamlines the distribution of transgenic mouse models for neuroscience research

Projects must address one or more of the specific goals of the BRAIN Initiative, as described in the planning document "BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision" and updated and enhanced in 2019 by "The BRAIN Initiative 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures". Applications are not limited to existing BRAIN Initiative investigators or to technologies previously developed using BRAIN Initiative or NIH funds, nor must the end user community be limited to investigators with BRAIN Initiative funding. End users may include those studying disease relevant mechanisms. Projects should address compelling needs of broad communities of investigators or should justify the impact and unmet opportunity of providing the services at smaller scales.

Application budgets are not limited, but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

The NIH anticipates providing $10M per year to fund an estimated 10 to 20 awards.

30 days prior to the application due date

February 15, 2022, October 14, 2022

Natalie Trzcinski, Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Telephone: 301-469-1779, Email: natalie.trzcinski@nih.gov