|
 Launched in 2013, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative
Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is designed to give scientists
greater insight into how the healthy brain works and a better
understanding of what systems go awry in diseases ranging from
Alzheimer's to schizophrenia.
"The human brain is the most complicated biological structure in the
known universe. We’ve only just scratched the surface in
understanding how it works — or, unfortunately, doesn't quite work
when disorders and disease occur," said Dr. Francis Collins,
director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the federal
agency distributing the $46 million in grants.
He likened the funding to his involvement in the early days of the
Human Genome Project, the program that uncovered the precise
sequence of 3 billion molecules common to the vast majority of
humans' DNA.
The grants represent the NIH's portion of the BRAIN Initiative. It
is one of four federal agencies committing more than $110 million in
fiscal 2014 spending. In addition to the NIH, the agencies include
the National Science Foundation, the Food and Drug Administration
and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Winners of the NIH grants were selected from a pool of more than 600
applicants. The grants will support the work of 100 investigators.
Most of the projects focus on developing new tools to help answer
basic questions about the brain, including classifying the myriad
cell types in the brain and developing new methods to record brain
activity and integrate that into fundamental theories of the brain.
[to top of second column]
|
"There's a big gap between what we want to do in brain research and
the technologies available to make exploration possible. These
initial awards are part of a 12-year scientific plan focused on
developing the tools and technologies needed to make the next leap
in understanding the brain," Collins said.
The White House is hosting a conference on the BRAIN Initiative
later on Tuesday where new federal and private sector commitments
will be unveiled.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Andrew Hay)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
