Notice of Funding Opportunity from the NIH BRAIN Initiative

"BRAIN Initiative: Reagent Resources for Brain Cell Type-Specific Access to Broaden Distribution of Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" -  RFA-MH-26-120

Application Due Dates:  February 14, 2025; February 02, 2026; June 15, 2027

A technical assistance webinar will be held for potential applicants on Thursday, December 12, 2024, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET.  To obtain technical assistance webinar participant information, please contact Dr. Douglas Kim at douglas.kim@nih.gov by email at least 24 hours prior to the 12/12/2024 webinar. Dr. Kim is the Program Officer, Division of Data Science and Technology at the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is intended to support facilities at Resource-Limited Institutions (RLIs) and Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible institutions for scaled production and distribution of brain cell type-specific access reagents. The reagents to be distributed will first be developed in separately supported reagent design and development projects for brain cell type-specific access across vertebrate species in the BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium project. Recipients of awards under this NOFO will then work with these Armamentarium projects to manufacture and distribute the reagents for use throughout the neuroscience community. It is envisioned that the recipients will work both with Armamentarium researchers as well as with the neuroscience research community to optimize the new reagents. The types of reagents to be produced and distributed could include but are not limited to viral vectors, nucleic acid constructs, and nanoparticles designed for selective access to brain cell types. Such reagents will enable neuroscientists to probe circuit function with high precision in experimental animals and ex vivo human tissue and cells. Facilities are needed to contribute to the production and distribution of BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium project reagents broadly to neuroscience users. This NOFO is part of the BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium project, whose overall goal is to generate tools to specifically access, manipulate, and monitor brain cell types across multiple vertebrate species. This NOFO will foster close interaction between technologists, disseminators, and neurobiologists in a research consortium including investigators funded by other Armamentarium NOFOs.