The NIH BRAIN Initiative provides funding for next generation neurotechnology.
Much work remains to be done to establish the scientific basis for next-generation neurotechnologies. To tackle this challenge, the National Institutes of Health established the BRAIN Initiative to provide funding for investigations into several high-priority areas of research. As a grants consulting firm that has secured $17B in funding for our clients, McAllister & Quinn is ready to help you develop the most compelling proposal possible to gain access to this funding.
Origins of the NIH BRAIN Initiative
The Brain Research Through Advancing Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative was created in Fiscal Year 2014 with an initial budget of $100M, a figure that now totals over $2 billion in appropriated funding to sponsor investigations into neurobiology, data analysis tools, imaging and monitoring techniques, and more. In 2016, Congress passed the Cures Act which allocated an additional $1.5B through 2026 to advance the goals of the BRAIN initiative.
The Current State of Neuroscience Research
In the last 50 years, the field of neuroscience has made great strides with foundational discoveries and continuous advancements in neural imaging, granting us a more complete understanding of the underlying processes that govern cognition, perception, emotion, and more.
Despite these advancements, we continue to understand remarkably little about the central nervous system, and our current working models of the brain are far from the standard required for investigations into neurological disorders, brain-computer interfaces, precision surgical interventions, and other cutting-edge applications.
Understanding the NIH BRAIN Initiative
In pursuit of this objective, the NIH outlined seven high-priority areas of research:
- Discovering diversity – Roles of brain cell types in health and disease
- Maps at multiple scales – Circuit diagrams varying from synapses to the whole brain
- The brain in action – Developing and applying improved methods for large-scale monitoring of neural activity
- Demonstrating causality – Link brain activity to behavior with precise interventional tools that change neural circuit dynamics
- Identifying the fundamental principles – Understanding the biological basis of mental processes through new theoretical and data analysis tools
- Advancing human neuroscience – Technologies to understand the brain and treat disorders; create and support integrated human brain research networks
- From BRAIN Initiative to the brain – Integrate new approaches to discover how dynamic patterns of neural activity are transformed into cognition, emotion, perception, and action in health and disease
Discover How we Can Help
The BRAIN Initiative makes funding available through two primary mechanisms: multi-project opportunities and research opportunities, each having unique eligibility, teaming, and compliance requirements. McAllister & Quinn has substantial experience with proposal development for National Institutes of Health programs, including the BRAIN Initiative, and stands ready to assist with the development of your proposal in a coaching, writing, and reviewing capacity.