Blueprint Funding
NIH Neuroscience Resources
- Animal Models
- Clinical Research Tools
- Imaging Tools
- Informatics
- Core Facilities
- Cell, Tissue, DNA
- Gene, Protein Expression
- Training
Blueprint Basics
Fact Sheets in Html format
Blueprint Mission and Grand Challenges
Experimental Mouse Lines and Data
Informatics
Clinical Research Tools
Resources and Contacts
Blueprint Mission and Grand Challenges
The Blueprint Mission
Over the past century, researchers have made breathtaking progress in understanding the anatomy, cell biology, physiology
and chemistry of the brain. Yet many fundamental mysteries remain, including how brain function translates into mental function
and why brain function declines with age. Recent advances in neuroimaging, genomics, computational neuroscience, engineering
and other disciplines have put us on the brink of another great era in neuroscience, when we can expect to make unprecedented
discoveries regarding brain function in health, aging and disease.
The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research aims to accelerate these discoveries. The Blueprint is a collaborative framework that includes the NIH Office of the Director and the NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. By pooling resources and expertise, the Blueprint identifies cross-cutting areas of research, and confronts challenges too large for any single Institute or Center. Since its inception in 2004, the Blueprint has supported the development of new tools, training opportunities and other resources to assist neuroscientists. In 2009, the Blueprint Grand Challenges were launched to catalyze research with the potential to transform our basic understanding of the brain and our approaches to treating brain disorders.
Blueprint Grand Challenges
The three Blueprint Grand Challenges slated to begin in 2009 and 2010 address:
- The connectivity of the adult human brain (the Human Connectome Project)
- The neural basis of chronic pain disorders (Pain)
- Targeted therapy development for neurological diseases (Neurotherapeutics)
The Human Connectome Project will use state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology to explore the connections within the healthy adult human brain. The Grand Challenge on Pain seeks in part to bring researchers from the neuroplasticity field into the pain field, and supplements are made available to set up these collaborations under an existing NIH grant. The Neurotherapeutics Grand Challenge will set up a pipeline to move candidate drugs for neurological disorders through preclinical development into early clinical trials. Funding announcements for the Human Connectome Project and the first phase of the Grand Challenge on Pain were released in summer 2009. Visit the NIH Blueprint web site (www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov) for these and future announcements about the Blueprint Grand Challenges.
Examples of Blueprint Resources
Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC) is a web-based clearinghouse that helps researchers find, compare and rate neuroimaging informatics tools and resources.
Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) is an online portal to neuroscience information that includes a customized search engine, a curated registry of resources and direct access to more than a dozen online databases.
Blueprint Resources Antibodies Initiative for Neurodevelopment (BRAINdev) is funding the targeted manufacture and distribution of high quality monoclonal antibodies for neurodevelopment research, which are available from www.neuromab.org. A list of antibody targets in progress can be found under Current Projects.
NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function is a set of integrated tools for measuring neurological and behavioral function, and for generating data that can be used and compared across diverse clinical studies.
Gene Expression Nervous System Atlas (GENSAT) is a project to develop, characterize and distribute transgenic reporter and DNA recombinase mouse lines to serve as tools for research on the central nervous system.
Cre Driver Network is a project to develop, characterize and distribute Cre driver mouse lines, which can be used to control expression of conditional-ready alleles in regionally and/or temporally restricted patterns in the mouse nervous system.
The Future of the Blueprint
The Blueprint welcomes suggestions from the scientific, clinical and patient communities regarding initiatives that will advance
the progress of neuroscience research. Contact us by email at blueprint@mail.nih.gov. Workshop summaries, requests for information, new developments and specific initiatives are posted at www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov.
NIH Blueprint activities are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Institutes and Centers that and Human Services comprise the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
top
Experimental Mouse Lines and Data
Cre Driver Network
The goal of the Cre Driver Network is to provide the neuroscience community with mouse strains that are suitable for tissue- and time-specific perturbation of gene function in the nervous system. Using a knockout mutation to eliminate a gene’s function is a useful way to study the gene’s role in development, but it can lead to lethal or otherwise harmful effects that preclude studying the gene’s role in later stages of the mouse lifespan. This project supports the generation of mice in which the expression of Cre recombinase, a DNA exchange enzyme, can be controlled temporally and spatially. These Cre “driver” lines can be used to generate conditional mutations that are activated in distinct cell types, tissues or time points, or inducible mutations that are activated through administration of a drug.
More than 45 Credriver lines have now been created and characterized, targeting selected neuronal populations in the brain. Data and images detailing the Crerecombinase expression profile for each line are available at www.credrivermice.org. Mice will be available through the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center (MMRRC) at the University of Missouri (www.mmrrc.org/catalog/StrainCatalogSearchForm.jsp) or through The Jackson Laboratory’s Cre Repository (http://jaxmice.jax.org/research/cre/index.html) for a nominal fee.
Mouse Archiving and Central Distribution
The NIH Blueprint has provided supplemental funds to two MMRRCs (www.mmrrc.org) for the archiving and distribution of mouse lines that are of interest to the neuroscience community. These funds will allow
approximately 220 mouse lines to be deposited at MMRRCs at the University of California at Davis and the University of Missouri,
and will ensure that the lines are made broadly available for further research.
|
Contact: |
GENSAT
The Gene Expression Nervous System Atlas (www.gensat.org) involves the large-scale creation of transgenic mouse lines expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporters or DNA
recombinases in specific neural and glial cell populations. In each mouse line, expression of the reporter or recombinase
is controlled by promoter elements derived from a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) containing a specific gene of interest,
in order to mimic expression patterns of that gene. To date, approximately 1,000 transgenic BAC-GFP reporter mouse lines have
been generated, and many have proven to be extremely valuable in experiments requiring identification of specific cell populations and details of cellular
morphology. BAC-Cre recombinase driver lines are being generated in collaboration with the NIMH intramural program. Over 30 fully characterized
BAC-Credriver lines have been created so far, targeting selected neuronal or glial populations in the brain and spinal cord.
The BAC-GFP expression data, as well as in situ hybridization data, are available in online, searchable databases (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gensat/ and www.stjudebgem.org/web/mainPage/mainPage.php). Nearly 800 BAC mouse lines have been placed in MMRRCs (www.mmrrc.org) since the beginning of the project and are available for a small processing fee. Researchers can nominate genes to GENSAT (www.gensat.org/GeneNominationForm.jsp), and register interest for specific BAC-Crerecombinase driver lines (www.gensat.org/CrePipeline.jsp).
|
Contacts: Ned Talley, Ph.D. Amelie K. Gubitz, Ph.D. |
The Cre Driver Network is funded by the Institutes and Centers that comprise the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
The Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers are supported by NCRR, with additional funding from the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
GENSAT is funded by NINDS, NIMH and the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
Informatics
Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC)
Many neuroimaging tools and databases are underutilized because they are not easy to find, are not user-friendly, or are not
compatible with other systems. NITRC (www.nitrc.org) serves as a clearinghouse for neuroimaging tools and resources, and a forum where the research community can provide feedback
about them. NITRC users can compare and download software tools for collecting and analyzing functional neuroimaging data
from fMRI, structural MRI, and other imaging modalities. Users are encouraged to upload new tools, and to rate tools regarding
ease of use, functionality, quality of documentation and support, and overall satisfaction. The resources registered in NITRC
include test data sets, image databases and forums where researchers can discuss trends and challenges in neuroimaging informatics.
Blueprint funding is made available for the improvement of existing tools and resources to make them better suited for dissemination
via NITRC.
Since the site was launched in 2007, NITRC has become host to approximately 200 tools and resources, more than half of which had not been previously shared online. In spring 2009, the American Council on Technology honored NITRC with an Excellence.gov award, recognizing it as “Best Overall” among 61 nominated government websites and IT programs.
|
Contacts: Zohara Cohen, Ph.D. |
Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF)
NIF (www.neuinfo.org) is a publicly accessible online portal that helps researchers discover and share a variety of neuroscience resources such
as data, materials and software. Its search tools offer multiple ways to explore its rapidly growing content, which currently
includes a customized neuroscience-relevant web index of approximately one-half million pages, a curated registry of more
than 2000 neuroscience-relevant resources, and an expanding inventory of federated data sources. The NIF data federation enables users to query multiple databases simultaneously and display the results within the NIF interface, categorized by
resource type (such as a grants database, an image database or an atlas) and biological scale (such as gene expression or
brain activity patterns).
Like other search interfaces, NIF allows simple keyword searches, but it also enables concept-based queries. Through its advanced search features, users can elect to explore related terms and synonyms. For example, if a user enters the word “neurodegenerative,” NIF can identify a range of neurodegenerative disorders and related terms to help narrow the search. These advanced capabilities are made possible by NIF’s Neurolex (http://neurolex.org/wiki/), a wiki-based system for defining and categorizing commonly used neuroscience terms and concepts. Neuroscientists using terminologies not currently represented in NIF are encouraged to work with NIF to make their vocabularies available through Neurolex. Resource providers also are encouraged to read the NIF blog (http://blog.neuinfo.org/) for best practices to facilitate resource discovery and federation. Investigators at the University of California, San Diego are leading the current phase of NIF development, and regularly adding new features to NIF with input from the research community. Participation in the NIF community and news about NIF are available via Twitter, NIF webinars, the NIF mailing list, the NIF blog and popular social news and bookmarking sites. Information for easily adding NIF search boxes to the Firefox search bar and to web pages is available on the NIF portal.
|
Contacts: David Shurtleff, Ph.D. |
Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN)
The goal of the BIRN is to develop an infrastructure that allows researchers to share data and research tools, and to collaborate
through a virtual environment. The BIRN Coordinating Center is led by the University of Southern California, with the participation
of investigators from the University of Chicago, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Irvine and
Massachusetts General Hospital. A new BIRN Community Service (U24) grant will be funded to ensure that the data-sharing infrastructure is responsive to the needs of broad biomedical research community.
Funds also have been provided for researchers to bring their data and data analysis tools into the BIRN infrastructure, and
for creating controlled vocabularies to match the meaning of terms across different data sets. The data and tools developed
through BIRN are freely available at www.nbirn.net.
|
Contact: |
NITRC and NIF are funded by the Institutes and Centers that comprise the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
BIRN and BIRN-related funding opportunities are affiliated with the Blueprint, but not supported directly by it. Blueprint-affiliated initiatives are discussed systematically by NIH Blueprint program staff, and supported by participating Institutes and Centers independently of Blueprint funds, management and oversight. BIRN receives primary support from NCRR.
Clinical Research Tools
NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function
Many clinical studies collect data on aspects of neurological and behavioral function. However, the neurological and behavioral
tests currently available to researchers lack uniformity and often require specialized training to administer. These limitations
make it difficult to compile data across the full range of normal neurological function, and to compare data across studies.
The goal of the NIH Toolbox project is to develop an integrated set of tools for measuring cognitive, emotional, motor and sensory function. These tools will be validated for use in diverse cultures, ethnic and geographic groups, ages (3-85 years) and study types.
The NIH Toolbox is expected to allow for valid cross-study comparisons, and to provide a more complete picture of neurological and behavioral health in single studies, especially large-scale longitudinal studies, epidemiological studies, and prevention and intervention trials. Moreover, the tools within the Toolbox will:
- be minimally burdensome to subjects and investigators,
- utilize state-of-the art psychometric approaches and technology, including computer-assisted evaluation, and
- be dynamic and adaptable to changes in measurement and technology.
The NIH Toolbox contract is operated by the NorthShore University HealthSystem Research Institute in Evanston, Illinois, under the leadership of researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago. For more information, visit www.nihtoolbox.org.
|
Contact: |
NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development and Pediatric MRI Data Repository
This study has tracked brain and behavioral development in more than 500 healthy American children, from birth to young adulthood.
The study will offer new insights into the structural changes that occur during normal brain development and how these changes
influence behavior, and it may lead to new brain imaging tools. The data also provide a control sample for future studies
of childhood disorders that affect the brain and are freely available to qualified researchers.
Investigators at six study sites across the U.S. scanned the children’s brains using anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (aMRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). A variety of tests were used to measure motor control, language, computation, social skills and aspects of intelligence, and to assess hormonal changes over time. Although no child was followed for the entire developmental span covered by the study, each child was evaluated for several months to several years, depending on the child’s age. A Data Coordinating Center at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University is releasing the data in stages. For more information, see www.NIH-PediatricMRI.org.
|
Contact: |
The NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function is funded by the Institutes and Centers that comprise the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.
The NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development is funded primarily by NIMH, NINDS, NICHD and NIDA. The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research funded the expansion of the study to include DTI.
Blueprint and Blueprint-Affiliated* Resources
|
Biomedical Informatics Research Network* BRAINdev (Blueprint Resources Antibodies Initiative for Neurodevelopment) Randall R. Stewart, Ph.D. Cre Driver Network Gene Expression Nervous System Atlas (GENSAT) Mouse Archiving and Central Distribution |
Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC) Zohara Cohen, Ph.D. Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) David Shurtleff, Ph.D. NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function |
Blueprint resources are supported by the Institutes and Centers that comprise the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research. *Blueprint-affiliated resources are discussed systematically by NIH Blueprint program staff, and supported by participating Institutes and Centers independently of Blueprint funds, management and oversight.
top
Contact Blueprint | NIH Web Privacy Notice | NIH Disclaimers | Accessibility
NCCAM | NCRR | NEI | NIA | NIAAA | NIBIB | NICHD | NIDA | NIDCD | NIDCR | NIEHS | NIGMS | NIMH | NINDS | NINR | OBSSR
