NIH FOA focuses on future BRAIN research.

I n January, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) posted additional information about an imaging-focused funding opportunity announcement (FOA) component of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. BRAIN is a collaborative effort announced in April 2013 by President Obama, with a goal of “revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain.” NIH is one of several federal and private agencies involved in the collaboration, which has been highlighted in previous Newsline issues. The current FOA, titled BRAIN Initiative: Planning for Next Generation Human Brain Imaging, is an R24 mechanism designed to support formation and development of interdisciplinary teams that will “plan innovative approaches to substantively expand the ways by which brain structure and function can be imaged in humans.” Activities supported by the awards include planning activities (such as meetings or conferences), prototype development projects, and small-scale pilot studies in mammals or humans that would provide proof of principle for transformative approaches to assessing human brain structure and function. The proposed concepts resulting from these efforts are “expected to be high-risk, high-impact, and disruptive.” At the completion of the R24 award, NIH indicates that it will expect investigators to be prepared to develop next-generation brain imaging technology for use in humans within 5 years. NIH noted that “this FOA is designed to provide the needed resources to form teams to meet the challenge of developing novel and transformative interdisciplinary approaches to human brain imaging.” In May 2013 a Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the NIH director was charged with helping to articulate the scientific goals of the NIH BRAIN Initiative and develop a multiyear scientific plan for achieving those goals. On September 16, the Working Group issued an interim report (available at www.nih.gov/science/brain/index.htm) identifying high-priority research areas for NIH funding in 2014. This FOA and other BRAIN Initiative FOAs issued in FY14 will be based on these findings. They constitute the inaugural set of NIH BRAIN Initiative projects, with an expected initial investment of $40 million targeted toward tool and technology development. The NIH BRAIN Working Group’s final report will be delivered in June 2014 and will include recommendations for specific goals and milestones for the multiyear NIH BRAIN Initiative. The Brain Imaging R24 FOA has been allotted $4 million, with a target of 9 to 10 awards at up to $300,000 per year for a 3-year period. The deadline for submissions is March 13, and initial responses indicate that numerous collaborative submissions are in preparation. National Institutes of Health