Forecast for BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
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The National Institutes of Health is preparing to reissue the BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS) Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies (U01) funding opportunity, with an anticipated release in June 2025 and an application deadline expected in September 2025. This solicitation is a follow-up to the previously expired RFA-NS-22-049 and seeks innovative, scalable technologies aimed at mapping neural connectivity across the entire brain, covering the full pipeline from tissue processing and imaging through alignment, segmentation, annotation, error correction, and integration into broader neuroscience data systems. Applications must focus on advancing technical capabilities that complement existing BRAIN CONNECTS awards and are explicitly restricted from including clinical trials. While the primary experimental models are human, non-human primate, and mouse, other species may be used for validation if scientifically justified. The U01 awards will become part of the coordinated BRAIN CONNECTS Network, which integrates efforts from three previous complementary NOFOs, including comprehensive centers for mapping projections and synaptic connections. The overarching goal of the program’s initial five-year phase is to build and refine the technical infrastructure necessary to generate comprehensive wiring diagrams spanning multiple scales of brain organization. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review previously funded awards via NIH RePORTER to ensure their proposals offer distinct and complementary capabilities. The opportunity is open to researchers who can develop robust, scalable methods that advance the field’s ability to map and understand brain connectivity, with all funded projects expected to contribute to a unified, community-wide resource. Point of contact for inquiries is Kari Johnson, PhD and Edmund Talley, PhD at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
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The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative (https://braininitiative.nih.gov/) intends to reissue Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) RFA-NS-22-049, BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS): Specialized Projects for Scalable Technologies (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive applications. The NOFO is expected to be published in June 2025, with an anticipated application receipt date in September 2025. This NOFO is a reissue of RFA-NS-22-049 (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-NS-22-049.html), which supported U01 Specialized Projects developing scalable technologies with a goal of brainwide mapping of neural connectivity. The previous NOFO was issued together with two companion NOFOs (now expired) supporting UM1 Comprehensive Centers to map neuronal projections in human and non-human primate (RFA-NS-22-047) and synaptic connections in mouse (RFA-NS-22-048). Applications for the upcoming reissued U01 Specialized Projects NOFO are especially encouraged to offer distinct capabilities and competencies complementing existing BRAIN CONNECTS awards, and potential applicants are encouraged to use NIH RePORTER (https://reporter.nih.gov/) to retrieve information on awards from each of the three previous NOFOs. This NOFO will solicit projects developing scalable methods for mapping brain connectivity, applied to any aspect of the pipeline, from tissue processing to imaging, alignment, segmentation and annotation, error correction, and integration into the larger neuroscience data environment. Although human, non-human primate and mouse are the focus of the BRAIN CONNECTS program, Specialized Projects may use other species for validation if well justified. Awards from this NOFO will be integrated into the BRAIN CONNECTS Network, a coordinated effort of awards from the previous three NOFOs aimed at developing the research capacity and technical capabilities to generate wiring diagrams that can span entire brains across multiple scales. The overarching objective of the first five years of the program is to develop these capabilities through innovation and iterative engineering of technologies including tissue processing, imaging, data analysis, dissemination, and application to fundamental questions of nervous system function.
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