Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Biophotonics applies photonics technology to the fields of medicine, biology and biotechnology.  Basic research and innovation in photonics that is very fundamental in science and engineering is needed to lay the foundation for new technologies beyond those that are mature and ready for application in medical diagnostics and therapies.  Advances are needed in nanophotonics, optogenetics, contrast and targeting agents, ultra-thin probes, wide field imaging, and rapid biomarker screening.  Low cost and minimally invasive medical diagnostics and therapies are key goals. Examples of topics are: Macromolecule Markers - Innovative methods for labeling of macromolecules, new compositions of matter/methods of fabrication of multi-color probes such as might be used for marking and detection of specific pathological cells and push the envelope of optical sensing to the limits of detection, resolution, and identification Low Coherence Sensing at the Nanoscale - Low coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS), n-dimensional elastic light scattering, and angle-resolved low coherence interferometry for early cancer detection (dysplasia) Neurophotonics - Studies of photon activation of neurons at the interface of nanomaterials attached to cells.  Development and application of biocompatible photonic tools such as parallel interfaces and interconnects for communicating and control of neural networks Micro- and Nano-photonic - Development and application of nanoparticle fluorescent quantum-dots; sensitive, multiplexed, high-throughput characterization of macromolecular properties of cells; nanomaterials and nanodevices for biomedicine Optogenetics - Employing light-activated channels and enzymes for manipulation of neural activity with temporal precision. 

NIH's $40M fiscal year 2014 investment in the BRAIN Initiative will focus on nine areas of research. The vision for the initiative is to combine these areas of research into a coherent, integrated science of cells, circuits, brain and behavior. Generate a census of brain cell types Create structural maps of the brain Develop new, large-scale neural network recording capabilities Develop a suite of tools for neural circuit manipulation Link neuronal activity to behavior Integrate theory, modeling, statistics and computation with neuroscience experiments Delineate mechanisms underlying human brain imaging technologies Create mechanisms to enable collection of human data for scientific research Disseminate knowledge and training

Lumosity invites researchers to submit proposals for studies that use functional neuroimaging techniques to investigate mechanisms underlying cognitive processes implicated in Lumosity's games and assessments. These studies would ideally involve both neuroimaging and behavioral methods with healthy adult populations. Examples of types of projects that would be prioritized include, but are not limited to, demonstrations of: Task-related neural activity within and across brain regions Changes in neural activity that accompany training-related changes in cognitive performance Neural specificity of cognitive training effects All applications are encouraged to focus explicitly on the use of neuroimaging as a tool for studying Lumosity's cognitive training platform. 

Biophotonics applies photonics technology to the fields of medicine, biology and biotechnology.  Basic research and innovation in photonics that is very fundamental in science and engineering is needed to lay the foundation for new technologies beyond those that are mature and ready for application in medical diagnostics and therapies.  Advances are needed in nanophotonics, optogenetics, contrast and targeting agents, ultra-thin probes, wide field imaging, and rapid biomarker screening.  Low cost and minimally invasive medical diagnostics and therapies are key goals. Examples of topics are: Macromolecule Markers - Innovative methods for labeling of macromolecules, new compositions of matter/methods of fabrication of multi-color probes such as might be used for marking and detection of specific pathological cells and push the envelope of optical sensing to the limits of detection, resolution, and identification Low Coherence Sensing at the Nanoscale - Low coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS), n-dimensional elastic light scattering, and angle-resolved low coherence interferometry for early cancer detection (dysplasia) Neurophotonics - Studies of photon activation of neurons at the interface of nanomaterials attached to cells.  Development and application of biocompatible photonic tools such as parallel interfaces and interconnects for communicating and control of neural networks Micro- and Nano-photonic - Development and application of nanoparticle fluorescent quantum-dots; sensitive, multiplexed, high-throughput characterization of macromolecular properties of cells; nanomaterials and nanodevices for biomedicine Optogenetics - Employing light-activated channels and enzymes for manipulation of neural activity with temporal precision. 

The mission of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program is to provide opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life science principles in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term.  The Biomedical Engineering (BME) program supports fundamental research in the following BME themes: Neural engineering (brain science, computational neuroscience, brain-computer interface, neurotech, cognitive engineering) Cellular biomechanics (motion, deformation, and forces in biological systems; how mechanical forces alter cell growth, differentiation, movement, signal transduction, transport, cell adhesion, cell cytoskeleton dynamics, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions; genetically engineered stem cell differentiation with long-term impact in tissue repair and regenerative medicine) The BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences.  The projects should focus on high impact transforming methods and technologies. The project should include methods, models and tools of understanding and controlling of living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and new novel methods of reducing health care costs through new technologies.

The Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program supports research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy. Research funded by the program thus develops, improves and expands models, analytical tools, data and metrics that can be applied in the science policy decision making process.

Studies funded by our Basic Research RFP will fall into one the following key areas, which are listed in random order: 1. Studies focused on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms regulating SMN expression or mediating SMN function. Results should lead to a better understanding of the requirements for SMN protein biologically, informing therapy development. Such studies may also identify genetic modifiers, upstream regulators of SMN expression / splicing / function, and downstream effectors of SMN functional activity, resulting in novel drug targets.      2.  Studies resulting in greater understanding of the pathophysiology of SMA, using well-validated animal or cellular models of the SMA. This includes focus on the tissue requirements for SMN protein, clarifying the cellular autonomy of the disease in motor neurons and other cells, peripheral versus central manifestations of the disease, and other areas.  3. Early proof-of concept assessment of novel therapeutic approaches for SMA in well-validated animal or cellular models of the disease. 4. Work focused on generating research and clinical trial tools, such as new animal models for SMA, phenotypic cellular assays for SMA, biomarkers or outcome measures for SMA clinical trials, newborn screening protocols, and others.

The overall goal of this initiative is to identify, optimize, and evaluate measures of neurophysiological processes that are disrupted within or across mental disorders and which can be assessed in animals and humans. The goal is to support further development of these measures as assays for evaluating potential new drug and device therapies and their targets. Data will also reveal assay measures where the performance between preclinical species and humans is dissimilar, thus establishing a firm basis for limiting speculative extrapolations of preclinical findings. Ultimately, the goal of this FOA is to improve the efficiency of the therapeutic development process by addressing inconsistencies between the preclinical screening pipeline and clinical evaluation of new treatment candidates and thereby hasten the development of more effective treatments for mental disorders. The objectives of the FOA will be accomplished by supporting partnerships among basic and translational neuroscientists who are committed to advancing the discovery of physiological measures as tools for target validation and therapeutic development. Groups will be tasked with building a target-engagement-linked-to-functional-brain-effect suite of assays with potential to translate from animals to humans and thus serve as a basis for selecting preclinical treatment candidates for further development and clinical testing. Towards this goal, the FOA will support development, optimization and evaluation of brain based assays in both preclinical species and in healthy humans and the evaluation of assay performance in response to carefully selected chemical, physiological, or behavioral manipulations.

This NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), supported by funds from the NIH Common Fund (Common Fund) and managed by the Office of the Director and participating NIH Institute(s) and Center(s) of the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program, solicits U18 Research Demonstration Cooperative Agreement applications to develop new and/or enhance existing tools and technologies tailored to elucidate the neurobiology and neurophysiology underlying autonomic control of internal organs in health or disease, which will ultimately inform next generation neuromodulation therapies. These awards will establish feasibility for further technology development in any future SPARC initiatives.  Additionally, the technologies developed through these awards are expected to lay the groundwork for more systematic facilitation of biological mapping activities in any future SPARC initiatives.  

This NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), supported by funds from the NIH Common Fund (Common Fund) and managed by the Office of the Director and participating NIH Institute(s) and Center(s) of the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program, solicits U18 Research Demonstration Cooperative Agreement applications to develop new and/or enhance existing tools and technologies tailored to elucidate the neurobiology and neurophysiology underlying autonomic control of internal organs in health or disease, which will ultimately inform next generation neuromodulation therapies. These awards will establish feasibility for further technology development in any future SPARC initiatives.  Additionally, the technologies developed through these awards are expected to lay the groundwork for more systematic facilitation of biological mapping activities in any future SPARC initiatives.  

The BRAIN Initiative: The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative® is aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. By accelerating the development and application of innovative technologies, researchers will be able to produce a new dynamic picture of the brain that, for the first time, will show how individual cells and complex neural circuits interact in both time and space. It is expected that the application of these new tools and technologies will ultimately lead to new ways to treat and prevent brain disorders.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites U54 Cooperative Agreement applications aiming to establish multi-component Alzheimer Centers for the Discovery of New Medicines. The overarching purpose of this Centers program is to improve, diversify and reinvigorate the Alzheimers disease (AD) drug development pipeline by accelerating the characterization and experimental validation of next generation therapeutic targets and, integrating the targets into drug discovery campaigns. In addition, this program aims to de-risk potential therapeutics to the point that industry will invest in them, accelerating the delivery of new drugs to AD patients. To this end, the funded Centers will design, develop and disseminate tools that support target enabling packages (TEPs) for the experimental validation of novel, next generation therapeutic targets, including those emanating from the NIA-funded, target discovery programs such as AMP-AD and, initiate early stage drug discovery campaigns against the enabled targets.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to develop informatics tools for analyzing, visualizing, and integrating data related to the BRAIN Initiative or to enhance our understanding of the brain.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation will award one- to three-year grants to develop imaging markers for use in disease-modifying clinical trials. Imaging is a powerful tool that can be used to visualize the structure and function of the brain in living subjects. While a variety of imaging techniques are available, including positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), none have been demonstrated to be a sensitive, specific and reliable biomarker test for the presence and progression of PD. Applications must focus on developing robust and precise imaging markers. Priority targets for this program are alpha-synuclein and neuroinflammation, but applications may focus on other promising therapeutic targets. Imaging modalities can include PET, SPECT and MRI. Projects should aim to develop novel imaging biomarkers as opposed to prospectively collecting data using existing technologies. Prospective data collection is appropriate only if a novel imaging technique or tracer is being tested. Novel data analysis techniques may be proposed but should utilize existing data sets. Examples of projects that are appropriate for this program include development of novel PET or SPECT tracers, early validation of new tracers, and development and validation of novel MRI techniques.

The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is aimed at revolutionizing neuroscience through development and application of innovative technologies to map neural circuits, monitor and modulate their activity, and understand how they contribute to thoughts, sensations, emotions and behavior. NIH has issued a variety of Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that will support projects that apply technologies to understand neural circuit function in the context of specific circuits, resulting in a diverse portfolio of research into the fundamental biology of nervous system function. The purpose of this announcement is to notify the research community that NIH welcomes BRAIN Initiative applications targeting central nervous system nociceptive and pain circuits, as appropriate to the goals and requirements of specific BRAIN Initiative FOAs. Pain conditions represent an important public health problem and NIH continues to support research into pain pathologies through normal Institute and Center appropriations. However, pain and nociception are also components of normal nervous system function, and the BRAIN Initiative is committed to understanding pain circuits along with brain circuits underlying other sensory, motor, cognitive and emotional functions. It is expected that the unique opportunities of the BRAIN Initiative will enable production of detailed maps of pain circuits, and the adoption of powerful new tools for monitoring and modulating pain circuit activity, leading to significant advances in the understanding of pain and nociception. For a list of past and open BRAIN Initiative FOAs, see https://braininitiative.nih.gov/funding/.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite Cooperative Agreement (U01) applications for the development of enabling informatics technologies to improve the acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of data and knowledge across the cancer research continuum including cancer biology, cancer treatment and diagnosis, cancer prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and/or cancer health disparities. As a component of the NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Program, this FOA focuses on early-stage development from prototyping to hardening and adaptation. Early-stage development is defined for the purpose of this FOA as the initial development or the significant modification of existing tools for new applications. The central mission of ITCR is to promote research-driven informatics technology across the development lifecycle to address priority needs in cancer research. In order to be successful, proposed development plans must have a clear rationale on why the proposed technology is needed and how it will benefit the cancer research field.

This FOA invites applications that propose to develop, characterize and validate innovative human cellular model systems that recapitulate phenotypic, mechanistic and neuropathological hallmarks of  Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias (ADRDs). Model systems will be expected to capture the complex, multi-faceted proteinopathies and/or vascular pathology observed in ADRDs, with multiple cell types represented in each model. Years 3-5 will focus on the extensive characterization and perturbation of the cellular model systems. The overall goal of this FOA is to establish next generation human cellular model systems for ADRDs to serve as tools to interrogate molecular disease mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets.

The purpose of the FOA is to support the structural characterization of protein species associated with Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (ADRDs) through the utilization of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of proteins expressed in human tissue and cell sources. Studies in response to this RFA should also include the development of research tools and resources to further characterize/validate the protein species. This FOA is in response to the Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (ADRD) challenges outlined in the 2016 update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease.

This RFA invites applications for planning awards to develop and finalize protocols for well-powered cognitive training intervention trials to remediate or prevent age-related cognitive decline as well as possibly prevent or delay the onset of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Planning activities may include the collection of pilot data and the refinement of cognitive training protocols consistent with Stage I of the NIH Stage Model. Trial designs must justify the means used to assess cognition and to explore the underlying mechanisms of change. Such methods as structural and functional neuroimaging with biomarkers justified by an underlying model of change, CSF fluids, and blood biomarkers are appropriate candidate tools.

The purpose of the FOA is to support the structural characterization of protein species associated with Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (ADRDs) through the utilization of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of proteins expressed in human tissue and cell sources. Studies in response to this RFA should also include the development of research tools and resources to further characterize/validate the protein species.