NIH Blueprint and BRAIN Initiative Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (BP BRAIN-ENDURE) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Funding Agency:
- National Institutes of Health
The overarching objective of this funding opportunity is to prepare individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce, to pursue further studies or careers in neuroscience research. To achieve this goal, the initiative will support two-year neuroscience research education experiences comprised of year-round authentic neuroscience research projects, research and career development, and establishment of professional networks, implemented through collaborative partnerships integrated across different educational institution types. Proposed program interventions in response to this NOFO should focus on asset models and leadership opportunities, rather than solely deficit models and remediation (recommendations from 2022 NINDS Transforming Mentorship, 2019 NINDS Pathways for Institutional Change Regarding Diversity and Inclusion, and 2017 NINDS Admission Strategies to Increase Diverse Neuroscience Trainees Workshops).
Participating components of the collaborative research education partnerships must include:
- One or more institutions that either: 1) have a historical and current mission to educate students from any of the populations that have been identified as underrepresented in biomedical research as defined by the National Science Foundation (NSF), see http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/) (i.e., African Americans or Blacks, Hispanic or Latino Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, U.S. Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities) or 2) have a documented track record of recruiting, training and/or educating, and graduating underrepresented students as defined by NSF (see above), which has resulted in a historically documented contribution by the institution to the national pool of graduates from underrepresented backgrounds who pursue biomedical research careers;
- A research-intensive institution, defined as having an existing neuroscience or neuroscience-related program and a significant number of potential mentors with NIH R01 or equivalent extramural research support;
- Formal alliances with one or more institutions with neuroscience-focused graduate research training programs that can provide summer research experiences for participating ENDURE students. Such institutions should hold NIH T32 research training grants, including T32 programs supported by the NIH Jointly Sponsored Institutional Predoctoral Training Programs in the Neurosciences (https://researchtraining.nih.gov/JSPTPN) or other competitively funded Ph.D. degree granting programs. Additional relevant neuroscience programs can be found by using the NIH RePORTER tool (https://reporter.nih.gov/). These alliances are expected to actively facilitate early communication and interaction among participating students and NIH neuroscience predoctoral program training directors. This establishment of neuroscience related “networks” is intended to actively facilitate participant's transition from the undergraduate to the graduate school level.
The average cost per program is estimated between $300K - $400K.
February 15, 2024
Michelle D. Jones-London, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-451-7966
Email: jonesmiche@mail.nih.gov