Scientific Innovations Award | Neurological Studies & Awards

Scientific Innovations Award Guidelines

The 2024 Scientific Innovations Award (SIA) will open in early April 2023.

If your institution did not receive an invitation directly from BRF via e-mail, then you are not eligible to apply. To learn more about institutional eligibility and our application guidelines, click below.

2024 SCIENTIFIC INNOVATIONS AWARD GUIDELINES

INSTITUTIONAL ELEGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

If you and your team are on the cusp of making a neurological scientific discovery that will impact society and the medical, scientific or structural approaches taken to brain disease, disorders or development and learning, you could be eligible to apply for our Scientific Innovation Award.

Below are just some of the innovative scientific studies BRF have funded to date.

Award Archive

Investigations supported by Scientific Innovations Awards yield high-impact findings and result in major grant applications and significant publications in respected journals.

Year

Chaolin Zhang, Ph.D., Columbia University

Human-specific Alternative Splicing, Brain
Development, and Ciliopathies

Like movie frames needing to be edited to tell an engaging story, pieces of genetic information stored in DNA for each gene need to be sliced and rejoined, through a…

Jason Shepherd, Ph.D. University of Utah

Virus-like Intercellular Signaling Underlying Autoimmune Neurological Disorders

Dr. Shepherd’s lab discovered that a brain gene critical for memory and cognition, Arc, has biochemical properties like retroviruses such as HIV. Arc protein can form virus-like protein capsids that…

Yuki Oka, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology

Molecular Mechanisms of Osmolality Sensing in the Mammalian Brain

Animals constantly detect and process sensory signals to react appropriately. External sensory information (e.g., light and sound) serves as prominent environmental cues to guide behavior. On the other hand, our…

Angelique Bordey, Ph.D., Yale University

The Role of Ribosomes in Synaptic Circuit Formation and Socio-Communicative Deficits

Our proposal aims at identifying a molecular mechanism responsible for autism-like socio-communicative defects in the developmental disorder, tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). TSC is a genetic disorder with a 30-60% incidence…

Adam E. Cohen, Ph.D., Harvard University

To spike or not to spike? Mapping dendritic computations in vivo.

The brain is made of neurons, and neurons convert synaptic inputs to spiking outputs. How does a neuron decide when to spike?

Gina Turrigiano, Ph.D., Brandeis University

Homeostatic Maintenance of Neocortical Excitation-inhibition Balance by Ciliary Neuropeptidergic Signaling

Brain circuit wiring is adjusted during adolescence to generate fully functional circuits, and this process depends on an interaction between genetics and experience. During this period of experience-dependent development, excitatory…

Gregory Scherrer, Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mechanisms of Affective States and Drug Discovery at the Intersection of Chronic Pain and Opioid Addiction

Pain is normally a sensation that we experience when our body is exposed to damaging stimuli, such as the noxious heat of an open flame. However, when chronic, pain becomes…

Apply for a Scientific Innovations Award

Scientific Innovation Awards are $150,000 2-year grants directed at projects that may be too innovative and speculative for traditional funding sources, but still have a high likelihood of producing important findings. The Principal Investigator (PI) must be an associate or full professor working in the field of neuroscience.

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