BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01) | RFA NS 18 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA NS 18 010

The BRAIN Initiative funding opportunity "Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01)" (RFA-NS-18-010) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to jump-start team-based human neuroscience projects that take advantage of rare clinical situations where the human brain can be recorded from and stimulated directly. The core idea is that invasive neurosurgical procedures, such as those performed for clinical care, offer a unique window into precisely localized brain circuits in living people. That access makes it possible to ask questions about neural activity and causality in ways that noninvasive methods cannot, but these studies are often limited by small patient numbers, inconsistent protocols across sites, and practical constraints that make it hard to run sophisticated experiments or pool data across institutions. This FOA is meant to address those barriers by supporting integrated, multidisciplinary teams that can coordinate approaches, generate early proof-of-principle findings, and set the stage for larger, follow-on funding within the BRAIN Initiative or through other NIH Institute mechanisms.

This opportunity emphasizes exploratory research and planning rather than mature, large-scale clinical trials. Applicants are expected to propose high-impact questions in human neuroscience that can realistically be advanced using invasive neural recording and stimulation in the context of clinical procedures. The projects should focus on demonstrating feasibility, developing and testing protocols, and producing early-stage results that justify later expansion. Because patient access can be sporadic and sample sizes can be small at any single hospital, the FOA places value on strategies that improve statistical power and scientific reach through coordination, aggregation, and standardization of data and methods across teams and sites. In other words, it is not only about doing novel experiments in individual patients, but also about building the practical and technical foundation that allows data to be combined and compared in meaningful ways.

A key priority is maximizing what can be learned from in vivo human recordings and stimulation that occur during or alongside invasive surgical care. That can include intracranial electrophysiology and stimulation-based paradigms that link measured neural signals to perception, movement, cognition, mood, language, or other behaviors, with an emphasis on innovative experimental designs that are realistic within clinical workflows. The FOA also encourages projects that develop or apply methods to quantify brain-behavior relationships with precise timing, including approaches that track behavior and context not just in controlled laboratory tasks but also in more naturalistic or real-world settings. The underlying goal is to better connect moment-to-moment neural dynamics with what a person is actually doing, experiencing, or attempting to do, using measurement approaches that can capture timing relationships at the resolution invasive recordings can provide.

Because this is a U01 cooperative agreement, awardees should expect substantial NIH involvement beyond standard grant oversight. Funded teams will participate in a consortium work group coordinated by NIH. Through this consortium, investigators will work toward consensus standards of practice, such as harmonized data elements, common task structures where appropriate, quality control expectations, and approaches to metadata and documentation that make cross-study comparisons possible. The consortium structure is also intended to create opportunities for supplemental data collection that can support ancillary studies and to promote aggregation and standardization of datasets for broader dissemination to the neuroscience community. In practical terms, this means applicants should be prepared not only to run their proposed science but also to contribute to shared infrastructure and community-facing outputs that improve interoperability and reuse of invasive human neuroscience data.

The announcement is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through NIH and spans multiple NIH program areas, as reflected by the multiple CFDA numbers listed (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.313, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867). Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, city, and special district governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities as allowed in the full FOA text. The original posting date was October 5, 2017, with an original closing date of January 19, 2018. The opportunity anticipated making around four awards, and the listed award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically indicates that the ceiling was not specified in the summary field and would need to be confirmed in the full announcement or NIH budget guidance.

Overall, the program is best understood as a BRAIN Initiative effort to move invasive human neuroscience from isolated, single-site demonstrations toward coordinated, reproducible, and shareable science. It aims to fund teams that can use direct neural access to tackle important questions, prove that new experimental and analytic approaches are workable in clinical contexts, and help set community standards so that data and methods can scale beyond any one lab or hospital.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Research Opportunities Using Invasive Neural Recording and Stimulating Technologies in the Human Brain (U01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.313, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 05, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 19, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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