The NIH BRAIN Initiative: An Overview
The NIH BRAIN Initiative:
An Overview
John Ngai, Ph.D.
Director, NIH BRAIN Initiative
NIMH Joint Alliance-Coalition Town Hall
October 5, 2020
The U.S. BRAIN Initiative
NIH, NSF, DARPA, IARPA, FDA
The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative
- Mission: to enable and revolutionize our understanding of the human brain by accelerating the development and application of innovative technologies
- Partnership between five U.S. federal agencies & private foundations
- Announced by the White House in 2013, first awards in 2014
https://braininitiative.nih.gov
The NIH BRAIN Initiative
NINDS, NIMH, NIA, NIDA, NEI, NIBIB, NIAAA, NICHD, NIDCD, NCCIH
Goal: to develop and apply new tools for understanding how neural circuits underlie complex behaviors in health and disease
- Leverage technological innovations to enable new discoveries about neural circuit function
- Use these discoveries as a foundation for new therapeutic strategies for human brain disorders
- Disseminate and democratize technologies for basic discovery and clinical applications
https://braininitiative.nih.gov
BRAIN 2025 Report (2014)
| Brain cell types | 1.Discovering diversity |
| Tools for Circuit Diagrams | 2.Maps at multiple scales |
| Technology to Monitor Neural Activity | 3.The brain in action |
| Precise Interventional Tools | 4.Demonstrating causality |
| Theory and Data Analysis Tools | 5.Identifying fundamental principles |
| Advance Human Neuroscience | 6.Creating human brain research networks |
| Integrate Approaches | 7.From BRAIN Initiative to the brain |
| **NEW CROSS CUTTING** | 8.Organization of Science |
https://braininitiative.nih.gov/vision/nih-brain-initiative-reports/brain-2025-scientific-vision
BRAIN Working Group 2.0 Report (2019)
The BRAIN Initiative 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures
Working Group 2.0 Major Findings:
- Stay on the productive path already underway for the NIH BRAIN Initiative; continue support for technology development and targeted study of circuit components
- Balance individual-investigator research with team science – both levels of inquiry are vital for advancing our understanding of the brain
- Devote ample BRAIN Initiative resources to large-scale transformative projects
The NIH BRAIN Initiative
NINDS, NIMH, NIA, NIDA, NEI, NIBIB, NIAAA, NICHD, NIDCD, NCCIH
BRAIN 2.0 Transformative Projects…
BRAIN 2.0 Transformative Projects
Building on a solid foundation of discovery and technological innovation
Phase III Brain Cell Census (parts list)
- Will build on success of BICCN mouse brain cell census
- Shift emphasis to construct a human brain cell atlas
Next-Generation Technologies for Brain Microconnectivity Analysis (wiring diagram)
- A wiring diagram of the brain at multiple scales and species
Organizing Resources for Brain Cell Type Access and Manipulation Across Species (cell type-specific armamentarium)
- Develop tools for cell access in rodent and NHP brains, human cells and tissue
- Long-term goal: new therapeutic strategies for human brain disorders
- First RFA (RFA-MH-20-556) just issued!
Toward Cures: Opportunities for Interventions
Discoveries supported by BRAIN lay the foundation for novel interventions in human brain disorders
BRAIN-supported technologies are unraveling the circuits and computations underlying complex behaviors
=> Identification of cells and circuits affected in neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders
=> Closed-loop deep brain stimulation devices
=> Targeted molecular/gene therapies
Neuroethics
Neuroethics is a partner to neuroscience, working to anticipate and address ethical questions raised by innovative research.
- The Neuroethics Working Group of NIH BRAIN Multi-Council Working Group help integrate neuroethics into the BRAIN Initiative at NIH.
- Group has developed a set of Neuroethics Guiding Principles for the NIH BRAIN Initiative
Thank You to the Many Contributors
8 Project Teams, Coordinating Team, Review,Outreach, Support Staff
| NCCIH Agonafer, Afomeya Chen, Wen Edwards, Emmeline Liu, Irene Mudd, Lanay Murray, Peter Sabri, Merav Shurtleff, David Wang, Yisong Weber, Wendy NEI Agarwal, Neeraj Becker, Steve Bhargava, Sangeeta Flanders, Martha Gordon, Shefa Greenwell, Tom Hays, Dustin Hoshaw, Brian Lee, Paek Neuhold, Lisa Steinmetz, Michael Wiggs, Cheri NIA Dibattista, Amanda Kelley, Melinda Luo, Yuan Mackiewicz, Miroslaw Masliah, Eliezer McGowan, Melissa McLinden, Kristina Roberts, Luci Stoeckel, Luke Sutterer, Matt Vahedi, Shahrooz Wagster, Molly Wise, Bradley Yuan, Jean NIAAA Cao, Nanwei Cui, Changhai Donodeo, Fred Grakalic, Ivana Liu, Qi-Ying Matochik, John Noronha, Antonio Powell, Elizabeth Regunathan, Soundar Tepas, Kathleen Xu, Ben NIBIB Atanasijevic, Tatjana Bacas, Angelos Binger, Monique Bittmann, Moria Duan, Qi Eldridge, Angela Ellis, Katie Erim, Zeynep Goldberg, Ilana Greve, Joan Hayes, John Heemskerk, Jill Hlasta, Dennis Holden, John Huff, James King, Randy Liu, Guoying MacDougall, Raymond McAndrew, Rudy Peng, Grace Wang, Shumin Wolfson, Michael Wright, Kwesi Zhou, Ruixia Zubal, I George NICHD Cernich, Alison Cruz, Theresa Henken, Deborah Huynh, Linda Jackson, Jennifer Kaeser, Lisa Lee, Sonia Mann Koepke, Kathy Miller, Brett Mukhopadhyay, Mahua Parisi, Melissa Ravindranath, Neelakanta Toyama, Reiko Williams, Paul NIDA Angelone, Leonardo Avila, Albert Berton, Olivier Berzhanskaya, Julia Frost Bellgowan, Julie Grant, Steven Johnson, Ellie Little, Roger Moore, Holly Pariyadath, Vani Pollock, Jonathan Rankin, Michele Satterlee, John Sorensen, Roger Tsai, Anne Valentino, Rita Volman, Susan Weiss, Susan Wright, Susan Wu, Da-Yu | NIDCD Cole, Laura Cyr, Janet Dambrauskas, Susan Miller, Roger Poremba, Amy Prakash, Pragya Rivera-Rentas, Alberto Wong, Baldwin NIDCR King, Lynn Vallejo, Yolanda NIMH Alvarez, Ruben Anderson, Paige Ankudowich, Lizzy Arguello, Alexander Beckel-Mitchener, Andrea Bennett, Yvonne Brady, Linda Churchill, Jay Driscoll, Jamie Farber, Greg Ferrante, Michele Fox, Meredith Freeman, Janay Friedman-Hill, Stacia Gaiano, Nick Garcia, Rebecca Gitik, Miri Grabb, Margaret Gray, Erin Haim, Adam Hillefors, Mi Kim, Douglas Kinnane, Megan Koester, Susan Lin, Ti Lisanby, Holly McMullen, David Michelotti, Enrique Michelotti, Enrique Miller, David Murphy, Eric Panchision, David Rossi, Andrew Rowland, Laura Sarampote, Christopher Senthil, Geetha Simmons, Janine Spicer, Olivia Subedi, Abhi Szczepanik, Joanna Van’t Veer, Ashlee Wijtenburg, Andrea Yao, Yong Zalcman, Steven Zhan, Ming NINDS Adams, Amy Ashmont, Kari Bellgowan, Patrick Benzing, William Breeden, Andrew Calabrese, Ryan Caporello, Emily Crawford, Devon Cummings, Diana David, Karen Doss, Argenia Douaji, Nadia Dupre, Kristin Fang, Christin Frankowski, Megan Gallagher, Alissa Gill, Marie Gnadt, Jim Gross, Brooks Hossain, Mir Ahamed Hsu, Nina Hudak, Eric Jia, Li Jones-London, Michelle Korn, Stephen Kukke, Sahana Lam, Christine Langhals, Nick Lavaute, Timothy Litvina, Liza Lungu, Codrin Ly, Quynh Lyden, Timothy Lyons, Ernest McMakin, Barbara Milescu, Mirela Miller, Daniel Myers, Paul Olenick, Mara Owens, David Pasternak, Tania Pearson, Michele Rajaram, Shantadurga Ramos, Khara Saydoff, Joel Schor, Nina Scott, Paul Stokes, Kalynda Strunnikova, Natalia Talley, Ned Taylor-Burds, Carol Thomas, Christopher Torborg, Christine Torres, Delany Varea, Andrea Ward, Jackie Warren, Margo White, Samantha Wymbs, Nick Zalutsky, Robert | NIEHS Humble, Michael NINR Anderson, Kathy Hamlet, Michelle Tully, Lois CSR Aschrafi, Armaz Thompson, Kirk OD Hunter, Chyren Mazzucco, Anna Schloesser, Dana Thomas, David |
https://www.braininitiative.nih.gov