WELCOME TO THE 26TH MEETING OF
THE BRAIN MULTI-COUNCIL WORKING
GROUP.
I'M SUSAN WEISS AND I'M THE
DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF
EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH FOR THE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG
ABUSE, AND I'M HERE TODAY AS THE
DESIGNATED FEDERAL OFFICIAL FOR
THE BRAIN MULTI-COUNCIL WORKING
GROUP.
AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, THIS
WORKING GROUP IS NOT A FORMAL
ADVISORY GROUP UNDER THE FEDERAL
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT, IN FACT,
IT'S AN ADVISORY GROUP TO THE 10
ADVISORY COUNCILS OF THE
PARTICIPATING BRAIN INSTITUTES
AND CENTERS.
AND IT WAS ESTABLISHED WHEN
BRAIN WAS ESTABLISHED, BECAUSE
OF THE RECOGNIZED NEED FOR
DIVERSE EXPERTISE IN VARIOUS
DISCIPLINES IN ORDER TO PROPERLY
ASSESS AND RECEIVE THE RESEARCH
BEING SUPPORTED THROUGH BRAIN.
SOME OF OUR MEMBERS ARE FROM THE
IC ADVISORY COUNCILS, AND WE
ALSO HAVE AT-LARGE MEMBERS WHO
HAVE BEEN APPOINTED TO
SUPPLEMENT THE WORKING GROUP'S
EXPERTISE.
WE ALSO HAVE SEVERAL EX-OFFICIO
MEMBERS FROM DARPA, THE FDA,
IARPA AND NSF WHO ARE FOUR OF
NIH'S FEDERAL PARTNERS INVOLVED
IN THIS INITIATIVE.
WE DEPEND UPON THE MULTI-COUNCIL
WORKING GROUP FOR ONGOING
OVERSIGHT OF THE SCIENTIFIC
VISION AND PROGRESS OF THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE, FOR FEEDBACK ON
CONCEPT CLEARANCES, ONE OF WHICH
YOU WILL BE HEARING ABOUT TODAY,
AND FOR INPUT ON OUR FUNDING
PLANS THAT WE WILL BE DISCUSSING
DURING THE CLOSED SESSION.
THE OPEN SESSION IS BEING
VIDEOCAST AND RECORDED AND WILL
BE ARCHIVED AND POSTED ON THE
NIH BRAIN WEBSITE.
THE NIH AND THE BRAIN WEBSITE.
TODAY WE'RE GOING TO BEGIN WITH
AN UPDATE FROM OUR BRAIN
DIRECTOR, DR. JOHN NGAI, AND
FOLLOWING THAT, WE'LL HEAR FROM
DR. CHRISTINE GRADY, WHO IS THE
CO-CHAIR OF THE NEUROETHICS
WORKING GROUP, WHICH MET
YESTERDAY.
SHE WILL GIVE US A SUMMARY OF
SOME OF THE FASCINATING
DISCUSSIONS THAT THEY HAD AT
YESTERDAY'S MEETING.
AFTER THAT, WE WILL HEAR FROM
DR. FLOH THIELS FROM THE
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ON
SOME OF THEIR BRAIN-RELATED
EFFORTS AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST,
IN THE OPEN SESSION, WE WILL
HEAR FROM DR. SHUMIN WANG, WHO'S
ONE OF THE BRAIN PROGRAM
DIRECTORS, AND HE WILL BE
PRESENTING A NEW CONCEPT FOR
POSSIBLE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY.
BRYAN ROTH AND BRUCE ROSEN HAVE
GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO LEAD THE
DISCUSSION ON THAT CONCEPT.
WE HAVE ONE NEW MULTI-COUNCIL
WORKING GROUP MEMBER THIS TIME
JOINING US, DR. FRANK LONGO, WHO
IS REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL
INSTITUTE ON AGING, AND WE ARE
ALSO SAD TO SAY THAT WE ARE
LOSING ONE OF OUR LONG-TERM
MEMBERS WHO HAS BEEN BOTH A
PARTICIPANT IN THE MULTI-COUNCIL
WORKING GROUP AND THE
NEUROETHICS WORKING GROUP,
DR. ELVA SERRANO.
DR. NE NEW YEAR'
>>FOLLOWING THE OPEN SESSION,
WE SL A 30-MINUTE BREAK BEFORE
BEGINNING THE CLOSED SESSION AND
I WILL GO OVER SOME OF THE
OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED
SESSION.
AND WE EXPECT THAT TO START
AROUND 2:30 P.M.
THERE WILL BE A DIFFERENT ZOOM
LINK FOR THE CLOSED SESSION
WHICH IS FOR MEMBERS OF THE WORK
GRAWP GROUP AND GOVERNMENT EMPLS
ONLY.
A FEW HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS.
DURING SLIDE PRESENTATIONS,
PLEASE BE SURE TO MUTE YOUR
LINE.
DURING THE DISCUSSION, PLEASE
MAKE SURE YOUR VIDEO IS ON AND
USE THE RAISE HAND OPTION IF YOU
HAVE QUESTIONS AND WE WILL CALL
ON YOU TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
BECAUSE THIS IS AN OPEN SESSION
AND IS BEING VIDEOCAST, WE
PREFER THAT YOU NOT USE THE CHAT
FUNCTION FOR DISCUSSIONS SINCE
THAT IS NOT VISIBLE THROUGH
VIDEOCAST.
FINALLY, I WANT TO THANK
OUTSTANDING TEAM WHOSE HARD WORK
WENT IN PREPARING FOR THIS
MEETING AND OUR COMPANION
NEUROETHICS MEETING YESTERDAY.
IN PARTICULAR, KRISTIN DUPRE,
DR. NINA HSU -- NOT ONLY ARE
THEY INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT AND
THOROUGH BUT THEY ARE REALLY A
PLEASURE TO WORK WITH AND I AM
VERY GRATEFUL FOR IT.
IF ANYONE IS HAVING TECHNICAL
PROBLEMS, PLEASE EMAIL KRISTIN
DUPRE, AND SHE AND HER TEAM WILL
SORT THINGS OUT FOR YOU.
WE ARE ALSO TO HAVE FORTUNATE E
THE HELP OF HOLLY AND THEY CAN
ALSO HELP AS WELL.
THAT'S MY INTRODUCTION.
I'LL TURN IT OVER TO JOHN NOW TO
DO AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
>>THANKS, SUSAN.
WELCOME, EVERYBODY.
GOOD AFTERNOON OR GOOD MORNING
IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE ON THE OTHER
COAST.
GLAD TO SEE YOU HERE.
AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO ECHO
SUSAN'S THANKS FOR ALL THE STAFF
THAT HAVE MADE THESE MEETINGS GO
SO WELL FOR US AND HOPEFULLY
AGAIN TODAY FOR ALL OF YOU.
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE A FEW
UPDATES, ACTUALLY MORE THAN A
FEW UPDATES, WE HAVE QUITE A BIT
TO TELL YOU ABOUT AND HOPEFULLY
WE CAN GENERATE SOME GOOD
DISCUSSION.
SO LET'S SEE IF I CAN DO THIS.
I DID CLICK "SHARE SOUND."
UH-OH.
ONE SECOND.
I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SHARE THE
SOUND.
IT'S MAKING ME -- OKAY.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FOREGO
THIS.
WHOOPS.
I APOLOGIZE.
I HAD A VIDEO CLIP WITH SOUND.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW THE
LYRICS, YOU CAN SING ALONG IN
YOUR HEAD.
I GUESS THAT WOULD BE THE POINT
OF THAT SLIDE.
IT WILL BECOME CLEAR WHEN I GET
THERE.
SORRY.
TECHNICAL ISSUES HERE.
ANYWAY, WELCOME.
I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU A QUICK
UPDATE OF WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON
IN THE BRAIN INITIATIVE SINCE WE
LAST MET IN MAY.
SO YOU'RE SEEING THE SLIDES NOW.
SO AS SUSAN MENTIONED, DR. ELBA
SERRANO IS FINALLY STEPPING OFF
OF NEWG MCWG.
ELBA HAS REALLY DONE AMAZING
THINGS FOR BRAIN, IN PARTICULAR,
BUT ALSO ACROSS NIH AND ACROSS
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOMEDICAL
SCIENCES IN GENERAL.
SHE IS SOMEBODY I CONSIDER TO BE
AN OG MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR
NEUROBIOLOGIST AND PART OF HER
GREATNESS IS THAT IN ADDITION TO
DOING GREAT SCIENCE, SHE'S
REALLY DEDICATED HER
CONSIDERABLE PASSION INTO
FURTHERING THE CAREERS OF YOUNG
SCIENTISTS, ESPECIALLY
SCIENTISTS WHO TRADITIONALLY
HAVE NOT BEEN REPRESENTED IN OUR
FIELD.
SHE'S MADE SO MANY CONTRIBUTIONS
IN THIS AREA.
SHE WAS A FOUNDING P.I.,
COFOUNDING P.I. OF THE BRAIN
ENDURE PROJECT AT HER
UNIVERSITY, AND SHE SERVED IN
ADDITION TO THESE WORKING
GROUPS, SHE'S ALSO SERVED ON THE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE
DIRECTOR OF NIH, SHE'S
CO-CHAIRED THEIR ACD DIVERSITY
WORKING GROUP, AND ALSO HAS
SERVED ON OTHER COUNCILS, AND
ALSO HAS PROVIDED GREAT SERVICE
TO THE SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE,
SO ELBA, WE WILL MISS YOU
DEARLY.
I'VE LEARNED SO MUCH IN TALKING
WITH YOU OVER THE YEARS, AND I
THINK YOUR INPUT HAS MADE US
BETTER, IT'S MADE US STRIVE TO
BE BETTER IN TERMS OF DOING BET
ARE SCIENCE, MORE INCLUSIVE
SCIENCE AND REALLY ENSURING THAT
WE HAVE A GREAT FUTURE AHEAD OF
US BECAUSE OF THESE EFFORTS, SO
THANK YOU AGAIN.
I HOPE YOU'RE BLUSHING OUT THERE
SOMEWHERE.
AS SUSAN MENTIONED, WE HAVE A
NEW MEMBER IN MCWG.
DR. FRANK LONGO FROM STANFORD
MEDICINE.
HE IS OUR NEW INSTITUTIONAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE NATIONAL
INSTITUTE ON AGING.
WE HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM
EACH OF THE 10 BRAIN ICs.
AND HE'S TAKING OVER FROM
DR. DAVID HOLTZMAN, WHO STEPPED
OFF LAST MAY, WE ACKNOWLEDGED
THAT BEFORE.
AT STANFORD, DR. LONGO IS THE
GEORGE E. AND LUCY BECKER
PROFESSOR OF YOUROLOGY AND
NEUROSURGERY AND SERVED AS CHAIR
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY
AND NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES FROM
2006 TO 2023.
HE'S WON NUMEROUS ACCOLADES AND
RECOGNITION FOR HIS RESEARCH
INTERESTS AND HIS LEADERSHIP IN
DEVELOPING TRANSLATIONAL
APPROACHES TOWARD
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, AND
HE'S PROVIDED -- HE PROVIDES
PATIENT CARE IN THE STANFORD
MEMORY DISORDERS CLINIC AND HE
MENTORS MANY, MANY MEDICAL
STUDENTS.
SO FRANK, WE ONLY GOT TO KNOW
EACH OTHER RECENTLY.
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO
YOUR WISE INPUT AND ALL THAT YOU
CAN DO TO HELP US MAKE BRAIN
SERVE NOT JUST NIA BETTER BUT
ACROSS ALL THE BRAIN ICs.
THIS IS OUR STAFFING, WE'RE
GROWING SLOWLY TO ACCOMMODATE
THIS EXCITING ROAD WE'VE ALL
BEEN ON.
WE WELCOME MAI HABIB WHO JOINS
AS PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST AND
ALSO ELIZABETH AKINBIYI, SORRY,
LIZ, WHO JOINS AS A AAAS SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY FELLOW.
SO WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD
TO HAVING THEM AS PART OF THE
GROUP, AND MANY OF YOU MAY
INTERACT WITH THEM AS WE GO
ALONG, AND I THINK YOU'LL FIND
THEM TO BE GREAT TO WORK WITH,
AS WE ALREADY HAVE IN THE SHORT
TIME THAT THEY'VE BEEN ON BOARD.
NOW, PART OF WHAT WE DO AT NIH
IS WE HAVE THESE AAAS FELLOWS,
SO IT'S LIKE RUNNING THE LAB, WE
BRING FOLKS IN TO GET TRAINING
AND WE LOVE TO HAVE THEM WITH US
AND WE'RE ALWAYS SORRY TO SAY
GOODBYE TO THEM.
I THINK SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE
WORKED WITH SANDEEP KISHORE WHO
IS LEAVING AFTER TWO YEARS OF
HIS FELLOWSHIP AS PLANNED.
HE CAME FROM NORTHWESTERN WITH A
GREAT BACKGROUND IN
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY.
HE'S DONE A LOT FOR US IN
DIFFERENT AREAS, INCLUDING
POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS,
AND HE REALLY PLAYED A GOOD
STRONG ROLE IN DEVELOPING THE
BRAIN BEHAVIOR QUANTIFICATION
AND SYNCHRONIZATION PROJECT, AND
HE'S JOINING THE DNBBS IN THE
BRANCH OF NEUROBIOLOGY AT NIMH.
SO SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE A CHANCE
TO WORK WITH HIM AS -- IN HIS
NEW ROLE AND PROGRAM OFFICER,
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT HE WILL
ALSO CONTINUE TO BE INVOLVED IN
THE BBQS PROGRAM, SO HOPEFULLY
YOU'LL GET TO HAVE LOTS OF
OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH
HIM.
IT'S REALLY BEEN A GREAT TIME,
AND WE'RE SORRY TO SEE HIM GO,
BUT IT'S GREAT TO SEE THE
FELLOWS MOVE ON TO THEIR NEXT
STAGES IN THEIR CAREER.
AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, THE
BRAIN PORTFOLIO IS MANAGED BY
NINE PROJECT TEAMS, SO HERE THEY
ARE LISTED.
WITH THE VARIOUS CO-LEADS.
SO IF ANY OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
ABOUT THESE PROGRAMS, YOU CAN
FIND THEM THERE.
AND WE COULDN'T DO ANY OF THIS
WITHOUT THANKING 150-SOME-ODD
CONTRIBUTORS ACROSS THE 10
ICs.
AND I KNOW I'M GOING TO
APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE, FOLKS, IF
YOUR NAME IS NOT THERE, JUST
TELL US, WE'LL ADD IT ON.
IT BEEN A BIG LIFT GETTING ALL
THE NAMES STRAIGHT.
WE'RE DOING OUR BEST.
BUT THIS JUST REFRECTS THE HUGEE
EFFORT TO RAIN THIS THING WE
CALL THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
THE BUDGET, THIS LOOKS PRETTY
MUCH THE SAME AS IT DID LAST
TIME IN MAY.
THIS IS WHAT OUR BUDGET OUTLOOK
IS THROUGH THE CURRENT FISCAL
YEAR, FY 23.
SO FAR WE'VE INVESTED OVER
$3 BILLION OVER 1300 PROJECTS
SINCE 2014.
WE A ARE ALL NOW ANXIOUSLY
AWAITING WHAT -- TO SEE WHAT
CONGRESS HAS IN STORE FOR US BUT
RIGHT NOW WE'RE ON A GREAT
TRAJECTORY DUE IN LARGE PART TO
THE GREAT CONFIDENCE THAT
CONGRESS HAS PUT IN THE WORK
THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING.
OKAY.
SO JUST A BIT ABOUT POLICY
TIMING AND COMMUNICATIONS.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THE LOOK OF
THE SLIDES IS A BIT DIFFERENT.
I THINK IT'S REALLY QUITE SLEEK.
OUR WEB TEAM, WHICH HAS BEEN LED
BY YASMINE AND OTHERS REALLY PUT
BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS INTO
TRANSFORMING OUR OLD WEBSITE
WHICH WAS FUNCTIONAL INTO WHAT
WE THINK IS A NEW AND IMPROVED
WEBSITE.
MUCH EASIER TO NAVIGATE, AND I
HOPE YOU CAN APPRECIATE THE
MYRIAD PIECES THAT HAD TO BE
FITTED IN AND LINKED TO BUT I
THINK RIGHT NOW IT WILL BE MUCH
EASIER FOR FOLKS TO FIND
CONTENT, FIND INFORMATION ABOUT
THE PROGRAMS THAT WE SUPPORT AND
THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
ANNOUNCEMENTS, SO I'D INVITE YOU
TO LOG IN WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE
IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR STUFF, AND
IF YOU HAVE ANY FEEDBACK ON THE
WEBSITE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU FIND
ANY GLITCHES, LET US KNOW, THIS
IS ALWAYS A WORK IN PROGRESS BUT
I THINK THIS WILL MAKE FINDING
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE MUCH EASIER FOR ALL
INVOLVED.
SO GREAT THANKS TO THE TEAM FOR
DOING THIS JOB, IT WAS A
HUMONGOUS LIFT.
WE HAD THE GREAT PLEASURE OF
HOLDING THE BRAIN INITIATIVE
MEETING, THE NINTH ANNUAL BRAIN
INITIATIVE MEETING AS A HYBRID
EVENT, WHICH MEANS THAT WE HAD
AN IN-PERSON EVENT FROM
JUNE 12TH TO 13TH.
2800 PEOPLE REGISTERED.
IT TURNED OUT ABOUT 820 PEOPLE
ACTUALLY SHOWED UP IN PERSON.
A LITTLE OVER A THOUSAND PEOPLE
REGISTERED IN PERSON, AND OVER
820 SHOWED UP IN PERSON, AND
ABOUT 1250 PEOPLE SIGNED ON
VIRTUALLY.
SO WE HAD 2,000 PEOPLE ACTUALLY
ATTENDING THE MEETING, WHICH IS
GREAT.
WE HAD A SERIES OF PLENARY
LECTURES, THREE COVERING THE
GAMUT FROM THE ETHICAL LEGAL
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF WHAT WE'RE
DOING WITH THESE NEWER
TECHNOLOGIES, THAT WAS THE
PLENARY OPENING.
WE HAD A GREAT OVERVIEW OF
DIFFERENT APPROACHES LEADING TO
INVASIVE DBS TYPE APPROACHES FOR
TREATING VARIOUS BRAIN DISORDERS
AND WE HAD A STUNNING LECTURE ON
TEASING APART THE NEUROCIRCUITRY
UNDERLYING OLFACTORY NAVIGATION
IN THE FRUIT FLY, STARTING FROM
CHEMICAL RECOGNITION ALL THE WAY
THROUGH THE CIRCUITS,
COMPUTATIONS, AND WE HAD A
VARIETY OF SYMPOSIA COVERING A
NUMBER OF AREAS.
VERY, VERY EXCITING, AND I'LL
SHOW YOU SOME PICTURES FROM THAT
EVENT.
THESE ARE JUST SOME QUICK
STATISTICS OF WHAT IT LOOKED
LIKE ON REGISTRATION ON THE
LEFT.
YOU CAN SEE WE HAD A BIG BUMP IN
VIRTUAL REGISTRATION WHEN WE
HELD THE MEETING ALL VIRTUAL IN
2020, 2021 AND 2022.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT FROM 2019,
WE HAD ABOUT 12 OR 1300 PEOPLE
REGISTER.
IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT WE DID IN
2023, THE OVERALL NUMBER WENT UP
QUITE A BIT.
NOW THESE ARE JUST FOLKS WHO
REGISTERED, BUT AGAIN, I'LL PULL
YOU BACK TO THE NOTES WE HAD
BEFORE, ABOUT 2,000 PEOPLE
ACTUALLY ATTENDED EITHER IN
PERSON OR VIRTUALLY.
SO WHATEVER THE CASE, WE'RE
GETTING A MUCH -- WE'RE REACHING
A MUCH LARGER AUDIENCE, WHICH IS
GOOD, AND I THINK THE VIRTUAL
COMPONENT AT THIS POINT IS A
FEATURE, NOT A BUG.
IT'S GREAT TO HAVE FOLKS IN
PERSON, I'LL SHOW YOU SOME
PICTURES FROM THE EVENT ITSELF,
BUT HAVING THE VIRTUAL COMPONENT
REALLY GIVES US MUCH GREATER
ACCESS TO FOLKS WHO EITHER
CANNOT MAKE IT OR JUST CHOOSE
NOT TO MAKE THE TRIP TO
BETHESDA.
WE ALSO HAD QUITE A FEW NUMBER
OF POSTERS PRESENTED IN 2023,
SOME OF WHICH WERE PRESENTED
VIRTUALLY.
OVER 500 POSTERS WERE PRESENTED,
WHICH IS GREAT.
AGAIN, IF YOU GO BACK TO 2019,
IT REFLECTS A MODEST INCREASE AS
WELL.
SO I LOOK AT THE PANDEMIC YEARS
AS BEING OUTLIERS, BUT IF YOU GO
BACK TO THE BEFORE TIMES, I
THINK WE'RE SEEING AN INCREASED
INTEREST IN THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE, AT LEAST THROUGH THE
MEETING ITSELF.
SO VERY, VERY EXCITED ABOUT
THAT.
THIS JUST GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF
HOW FAR WE REACHED.
FROM WITHIN THE U.S., FOLKS CAME
FROM FOUR TO FIVE U.S. STATES
PLUS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
WE'RE MISSING THREE, FOUR STATES
IN THERE, WE'LL WORK HARD TO
REACH OUT TO THE NEUROSCIENTISTS
IN THOSE STATES.
BUT VERY IMPORTANTLY WE REACHED
OUT TO 68 OTHER COUNTRIES
BESIDES THE UNITED STATES.
SO THIS REALLY REFLECTS A GREAT
REACH.
SO WE'RE VERY, VERY EXCITED
ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING OUR
TENTH ANNUAL MEETING NEXT YEAR,
I AT ANY TIME PUT IT ON THE
SLIDE BUT HOLD THE DATE.
IT WILL BE JUNE 18TH -- SORRY,
JUNE 17TH AND 18TH, 2024.
SO THERE WILL BE MORE
INFORMATION COMING UP FOR THAT.
THE STAFF IS WORKING VERY HARD
TO GET THAT MEETING SE SET UP AD
I'LL BE GETTING YOU UPDATES ON
THAT AS WE GOING ALONG.
OKAY, SO HERE ARE JUST A FEW
PICTURES FROM THE EVENTS.
WE HAD A PREMEETING EVENT ON
SUNDAY EVENING AND HERE'S ONE OF
OUR CO-LEADS GIVING A
PRESENTATION TO FOLKS ABOUT
NAVIGATING THE NIH GRANT SYSTEM.
IT WAS REALLY INCREDIBLE JUST TO
SEE FOLKS IN THE ROOM AND
INTERACTING THIS WAY.
THIS WAS THE PLENARY SESSION,
REALLY TERRIFIC.
THE POSTER SESSIONS WERE GREAT.
I NORMALLY HAVE AN AVERSION TO
POSTER SESSIONS BUT I JUST
COULDN'T HELP TO DIVE IN AND
SOAK IT ALL IN.
HERE'S ONE OF THE SESSIONS, THE
OCTOPUS' GARDEN I CALL THIS, AND
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO INTERACT
INFORMALLY, SO LOOKING FORWARD
TO SEEING YOU ALL AGAIN NEXT
YEAR, AND WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE
THIS WITHOUT OUR INCREDIBLE
PROGRAM COMMITTEE AS WELL AS
STAFF THAT MADE THIS EVENT
HAPPEN.
IT WAS REALLY A GREAT EVENT AND
WE STRIVE TO MAKE NEXT YEAR'S
EVENT EVEN BETTER.
SO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE
BRAIN MEETING ON THE 12TH AND
13TH, A GROUP OF US HEADED DOWN
TO THE HILL TO GIVE A BRIEFING
TO THE CONGRESSIONAL
NEUROSCIENCE CAUCUS.
THIS WAS SPONSORED BY THE GROUPS
THAT YOU SAW BEFORE ORGANIZED BY
THE AMERICAN BRAIN COALITION.
THE CONGRESSIONAL NEUROSCIENCE
CAUCUS IS A CAUCUS OF INTERESTED
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
IT'S CO-CHAIRED BY
REPRESENTATIVE EARL BLUMENAUER
FROM OREGON AND NOW A NEW CHAIR,
REPRESENTATIVE MORGAN LUTTRELL
FROM TEXAS, THE HOUSTON AREA.
WE BROUGHT A COUPLE PANELS WITH
US.
WE HAD KAFUI DZIRASA AS
MODERATOR AND LET THE FOLKS ON
THE HILL KNOW ALL THE GREAT
THINGS WE'RE DOING AND TO SHOW
THEM THAT WE ARE MAKING AN
IMPACT IN THE CLIPP CLINIC TODAS
WELL AS LAYING DOWN A FOUNDATION
FOR THE FUTURE SO TO THAT END,
DR. NICOLE PROVENZA CAME ALONG
WITH HER FIRST OCD PATIENT THEY
TREATED WITH DBS, SUCCESSFULLY,
I MIGHT ADD.
KATIE IS SECOND FROM THE LEFT
STANDING BETWEEN KAF AND MYSELF.
NICOLE IS STANDING NEXT TO THE
TALL GENTLEMAN ON THE RIGHT, WHO
WAS DR. ED LEIN, LEADING THE
ALLEN INSTITUTE'S EFFORTS IN THE
HUMAN CELL ATLAS PROJECT THAT
WE -- HUMAN BRAIN CELLS PROJECT
THAT WE ARE FUNDING, AND ED GAVE
A GREAT SHORT DISCUSSION ABOUT
THE VALUE OF THAT KIND OF
FOUNDATIONAL WORK IN TERMS OF
LAYING DOWN THE FOUNDATION FOR
FUTURE CURES.
AND SITTING IN THE MIDDLE IS JEN
FRENCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND
FOUNDER OF THE NEUROTECH
NETWORK, WHOSE MISSION IS TO
HELP TRANSLATE THESE
NEUROTECHNOLOGIES TO BENEFIT
PATIENTS SUCH AS HERSELF TO LEAD
BETTER AND MORE FULFILLING
LIVES.
SO IT WAS A GREAT BRIEFING, WE
HAD A LOT OF GREAT DISCUSSION
WITH THEM, AND WE HOPE TO
CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE A THEETE
FINDINGS TO CONTINUE TO ENJOY
THE VERY STRONG SUPPORT WE HAVE
FROM CONGRESS.
SO THAT WAS THE DAY AFTER.
AND SINCE WE LAST MET HERE,
WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF WORKSHOPS
THAT WE'VE SPONSORED.
WE RECENTLY SPONSORED AT END OF
JUNE A WORKSHOP TOGETHER WITH
NSF AND NIH BLUEPRINT, A NEXT
FRONTIERS WORKSHOP IN
CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH.
HERE THE GOAL IS TO GATHER
EXPERTS ACROSS DIFFERENT
DISCIPLINES TO SEE WHAT IS THE
STATE OF THE ART IN TERMS OF OUR
ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE
NEUROMECHANISMS OF
CONSCIOUSNESS.
AND IT'S A VERY LARGE AND TOUGH
SUBJECT.
WE DISCUSSED BOTH EMPIRICAL
APPROACHES AND ATTEMPTED TO
DEVELOP A ROAD MAP FOR FUTURE
RESEARCH IN THIS AREA, AND I
SHOULD POINT OUT THAT THE
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE
NEUROBASE OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS
WAS A MAIN THEME OF THE BRAIN
2.0 NEUROETHICS REPORT.
SO A FEW KEY INSIGHTS WERE
OBTAINED IN TERMS OF TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND CONSCIOUSNESS AS A
BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON, AND ALSO
TO TRY TO FIND AN OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION OF CONSCIOUSNESS SO
THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY START
GETTING SOME TRACTION ON THE
MECHANISMS.
AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, I THINK, A
PRACTICAL -- ONE PRACTICAL
ASPECT OF THIS IS IN TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND THE STATE OF
CONSCIOUSNESS IN PATIENTS THAT
ARE IN COMA OR SUFFERED SEVERE
BRAIN INJURIES IN ORDER TO
HOPEFULLY FIND A BETTER WAY TO
CARE FOR THESE PATIENTS AND ALSO
HELP THEIR FAMILY.
SO LOTS MORE TO COME FROM THIS.
I WOULD SAY THAT WITH A TOPIC
LIKE CONSCIOUSNESS, PROBABLY AS
MANY OR MORE QUESTIONS WERE
RAISED AS ANSWERS BUT THERE WERE
GOOD QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP, SO
WE'LL BE FOLLOWING UP ON THOSE
FINDINGS AS WELL.
OUR TEAM LED BY DR. MICHELLE
JONES LEONARD PUT ON THIS GREAT
WHAT WE CALL WRITING YOUR OWN
BLUEPRINT WORKSHOP THAT BROUGHT
TOGETHER TRAINEES SUPPORTED BY
THE DSPAN, THE ENDURE PROGRAM,
WHICH UNTIL JUST RECENTLY WAS A
BLUEPRINT PROGRAM BUT NOW IS
A -- OUR K99/R00 AWARDEES, TO
HELP THE COHORT GENERATE SOME
PEER TO PEER NETWORKING AS WELL
AS MENTOR TO MENTEE NETWORKING
TO HELP GUIDE THEM ON THEIR PATH
TOWARD ACADEMIC SCIENCE OR
WHATEVER SCIENCE THEY MIGHT
CHOOSE TO PURSUE BASED ON THE
TRAINING HERE.
IT WAS A TERRIFIC EVENT.
LOTS OF TRAINEES, THERE WERE A
LOT OF GREAT DISCUSSIONS.
WALTER AND I WERE PLEASED TO
TAKE A SMALL PART IN THAT EVENT
AS WELL BACK IN JULY.
WE ALSO HAD OUR NEW WORKSHOP ON
THE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF
HUMAN BRAIN DATA BACK IN JULY.
HERE WE EXPLORED WAYS TO
CATEGORIZE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
BRAIN DATA AND TO TRY TO ASSESS
THE RELATIVE RISKS INVOLVED IN
SHARING THOSE DATA, GIVEN HOW
RAPIDLY WE'RE GENERATING THIS
DATA FROM DIFFERENT KINDS OF
RECORDING TECHNOLOGIES BUT ALSO
STARING DOWN THIS RUNWAY OF
INCREASINGLY ACCELERATING WAYS
OF INTERPRETING THESE DATA IN
WAYS THAT WE HADN'T QUITE
IMAGINED RECENTLY, AND I THINK
ARE GOING TO GET US INTO NEW
DOMAINS IN THE FUTURE.
WE HAD FIVE PANELS ACROSS TWO
DAYS.
IT WAS A VERY INTENSIVE AND
STIMULATING WORKSHOP.
WE ALSO HAD BREAKOUT ROOMS TO
EXPLORE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THIS,
AND YOU CAN SEE THE BULLETS
HERE, I WON'T BELABOR THEM BUT
WE'RE NOW WORKING WITH SOME NIH
STAFF TO SEE IF WE CAN
ENCAPSULATE THIS INTO SOME ITEMS
THAT WE CAN REALLY START
CONCENTRATING ON SO THAT WE CAN
REALLY ENSURE THAT WE ARE DOING
THE BEST WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF
ETHICALLY USING THESE DATA THAT
WE ARE OBTAINING FROM HUMAN
PARTNER SUBJECTS WHO ARE SO
GENEROUS IN GIVING TO US BUT
ALSO DOING OUR BEST TO SAFEGUARD
THEIR SAFETY AND PRIVACY BOTH ON
AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL AS WELL AS
THE COMMUNITY LEVEL WHICH IS A
BIG CHALLENGE BECAUSE, AGAIN, WE
DON'T KNOW HOW THESE DATA MIGHT
BE USED IN THE FUTURE.
SO A LOT OF BIG QUESTIONS TO
TACKLE, BUT I THINK THIS IS
WHERE WE NEED TO BE ON THAT.
OKAY.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS MORE IF
PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS IN A BIT.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE HAD ANOTHER
WORKSHOP THAT WAS RUN BY ONE OF
OUR PROJECT TEAMS TAPPED ON TO
THE DBS THINK TANK, WHICH IS TO
RUN A WORKSHOP TO SEE WHAT ARE
THE BARRIERS AND POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS FOR RECRUITING A MORE
DIVERSE PATIENT COHORT IN OUR
CLINICAL TRIALS OF DEEP BRAIN
STIMULATION.
SO THERE WERE A NUMBER OF
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS LEADING TO
SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS.
I THINK ONE OF THE PRIMARY
TAKEAWAYS IS ALWAYS BUILDING
TRUST AND SHOWING THAT WE
DESERVE THE TRUST OF THE
COMMUNITY IN ORDER FOR THEM TO
ALLOW US TO INTERACT WITH THEM.
TO PROVIDE BETTER EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES TO BUILD THAT TRUST,
AS WELL AS FOR -- NOT JUST FOR
THE PATIENTS BUT ALSO FOR THE
REFERRING CLINICIANS, AND THEN
TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO DECREASE
THE BURDEN ON THE PATIENTS TO
HELP GET THEM THERE, AND AGAIN,
TO GET BUY-IN FROM THE COMMUNITY
AND THE CLINICIANS AS WELL AS
THE PATIENTS THEMSELVES.
SO WE W RECOGNIZE THIS IS A
CHALLENGE AND WE'RE DOING WHAT
WE CAN TO ADDRESS IT, AND THIS
IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY STEPS WE
NEED TO TAKE TO DO SO.
BACK IN MAY I MENTIONED TO YOU
THIS TARGETED CHALLENGE AS PART
OF THE SOMATIC CELL GENOME
EDITING CONSORTIUM RUN OUT OF
THE COMMON FUND.
THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT HAS THE
INVOLVEMENT OF NCATS, NIDS,
NHLBI AND RECENTLY THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE SIGNED ON AS WELL.
THERE ARE TWO TARGET AREAS FOR
THIS CHALLENGE AND ONE IS
PROGRAMMABLE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
FOR GENE EDITING, WHICH COULD BE
RELEVANT TO BRAIN, BUT VERY
RELEVANT TO BRAIN OR VERY
RELEVANT TO THE CHALLENGE IS THE
DEVISING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR
CROSSING THE BLOOD BRAIN
BARRIER.
WITH THESE NOVEL VECTORS.
SO JUST A REMINDER THAT THE
APPLICATION IS COMING UP VERY
SOON, OCTOBER 5TH.
IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY TAKEN A
LOOK AT IT, QR CODE OR LOOK IT
UP ON THE WEB, IF YOU HAVE SOME
GREAT IDEAS, WE'D LOVE TO SEE
THEM, ONE OF THESE UNIQUE
CHALLENGE MECHANISMS THAT NIH
PUTS ON FROM TIME TO TIME.
NOW OUR FOLKS IN THE BICCN
ENHANCER NETWORK HAVE SET UP
THEIR OWN CHALLENGE TO ASK FOLKS
TO COME IN WITH NEW
COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR
PREDICT DR.ING FUNCTIONAL CELL
TYPE ENHANCERS WITH INFORMATION
THAT CAN BE USED TO DESIGN GENE
REGULATORY ELEMENTS FOR
PRECISION GENE TARGETING AS PART
OF THE ARMAMENTARIUM PROJECT.
SO YOU CAN LOOK THIS UP AT
BICCNCHALLENGE.ORG OR SCAN THE
QR CODE TO SEE WHAT THAT'S ALL
ABOUT AND REGISTRATION WILL OPEN
SOMETIME NEXT MONTH.
JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU A QUICK
OVERVIEW OF PROGRAM AND FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE KICKING
OFF RIGHT NOW.
I'LL JUST GIVE YOU A BRIEF
SUMMARY OF THE STATE OF WHERE WE
ARE WITH THE BRAIN
2.0 TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECTS, THE
BRAIN INITIATIVE CELL ATLASST
NETWORK, THE ARMAMENTARIUM
PROJECT FOR PRECISION BRAIN CELL
ACCESS AND THE MICRO
CONNECTIVITY OR BRAIN CONNECTS
PROJECT.
SO BICAN IS WELL UNDERWAY.
THE PHASE THREE OF THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE CELL CENSUS PROJECTS.
WE MADE THE FIRST AWARDS IN
2022, AND IN 2022, WE'VE
INVESTED SO FAR $95 MILLION
ACROSS 11 PROJECTS AND THOSE
TEAMS ARE UP AND RUNNING,
ORGANIZED, UP AND RUNNING AND WE
EXPECT TO START GETTING SOME
GREAT DATA SOON.
YOU CAN IMAGINE, GETTING 11 OF
THESE BIG PROJECTS WORKING
TOGETHER BUT THEY ARE WORKING
TOGETHER WELL.
WE JUST REVIEWED THE SECOND
ROUND OF APPLICATIONS AND THOSE
AWARDS, WE EXPECT TO ISSUE BY
THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR IF
ALL GOES AS PLANNED.
THERE'S ALSO AN OPEN R01 FOR
COLLABORATORIES AS PART OF THE
BICAN EFFORT, AND THE NEXT
RECEIPT DATE FOR THOSE
APPLICATIONS WILL BE FEBRUARY OF
2024.
SO THAT'S ROLLING ALONG QUITE
NICE NICELY RIGHT NOW.
THE ARMAMENTARIUM PROJECT,
ORGANIZING RESOURCE FORCE BRAIN
CELL TYPE ACCESS, THAT WAS
ACTUALLY STARTED EARLIER, IN
2021.
SO BETWEEN THE YEARS 2021 AND
2022, WE'VE INVESTED $42 MILLION
ACROSS SEVEN PROJECTS, AND THOSE
ARE GOING QUITE WELL.
THAT ARMAMENTARIUM GROUP IS ALSO
BEING ORGANIZED AS A CONSORTIUM
TO MAXIMIZE THE EFFORT AND TO
THE KNOW-HOW BETWEEN THE GROUPS
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT COMES
OUT OF THERE.
WE ISSUED A NEW RFA RECENTLY FOR
COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS FOR
DEVELOPING THESE TECHNOLOGIES.
THE FIRST ROUND IS CURRENTLY
UNDER REVIEW, SO WE EXPECT TO
MAKE THOSE AWARDS NEXT SPRING.
THE NEXT RECEIPT DATE FOR THE
PAYLOADS CENTERS WILL BE
FEBRUARY OF 2024.
THE CONNECTS PROJECT IS THE
THIRD ONE OUT OF THE GATE, AND
WE ARE ESTABLISHING CENTERS FOR
BOTH MOUSE AS WELL AS BIG BRAIN
PROJECTS, AND AGAIN, THIS WILL
RUN AS A CONSORTIUM.
THE FIRST AWARDS ARE TO BE
ISSUED, I THINK -- WE'LL BE
ANNOUNCING THOSE SOON.
AND WE'LL LET YOU KNOW ABOUT
THAT.
THE SECOND ROUND IS ALREADY IN
AND UNDER REVIEW, AND WE EXPECT
TO MAKE THOSE AWARDS NEXT
SPRING.
SO THIS IS THE STATUS OF THE
THREE TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECTS.
AND YOU'LL BE SEEING, I THINK,
SOME EXCITING WORK COMING OUT OF
THESE THREE PROJECTS OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.
OKAY.
LAST TIME I THINK WE ALSO TALKED
ABOUT THE NEWLY LAUNCHED BRAIN
BEHAVIOR QUANTIFICATION AND
SYNCHRONIZATION OR BBQS PROGRAM.
HERE THE IDEA IS TO DEVELOP
BETTER SENSORS FOR MEASURING AND
INTERPRETING DATA FROM BEHAVING,
AWAKE BEHAVING ANIMALS INCLUDING
HUMAN ANIMALS, BOTH IN THE LAB
AS WELL AS IN THE REAL WORLD OR
IN THE WILD, AND LITERALLY TO
CLOSE A LOOP BETWEEN THOSE
ASSAYS AND THE PRECISION HIGH
SPATIAL TEMPORAL AND EXTENSIVE
TECHNOLOGIES TO KIND OF PUT THEM
TOGETHER IN KIND OF A COHESIVE
UNIT.
THESE PROJECTS ARE NOW STARTING
TO COME THROUGH AND WE WILL BE
LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE FIRST
GRANT APPLICATIONS SHORTLY, AND
HERE THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP AND
VALIDATE NEXT GENERATION TOOLS,
METHODS AND VERY IMPORTANTLY
ANALYTICAL APPROACHES TO
QUANTIFY COMPLEX BEHAVIORS IN
BOTH HUMANS AND NON-HUMANS IN
NATURALISTIC ENVIRONMENTS AND TO
DO SO WITH SIMULTANEOUS
RECORDINGS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY.
SO WE HAVE NOFOs AROUND THOSE,
THTHE ORGANISMAL BBQS, STAY TUND
FOR RFAs COMING THERE.
WE HAVE HUMAN/CLINICAL BBQ
S-PHASED AWARD, AS WELL AS THE
NEWLY ANNOUNCED NOFO FOR DATA
AND AI CENTER FOR COORDINATING
AND MANAGING AND INTERPRETING
WHAT WE EXPECT TO BE A VAST
TREASURE TROPH TROVE OF DATA.
WE RECENTLY HELD A WORK SHOM ON
SENSORS TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL I
HOPE WILL INFORM WHERE WE WANT
TO GO IN DEVELOPING THE SPACE IN
THAT DOMAIN AND WE ALSO
PUBLISHED A NOTICE OF SCIENTIFIC
INTEREST TO DIRECT PEOPLE IF
THEY'RE INTERESTED IN THIS SPACE
TO LOOK AT OUR STANDING RFAs
FOR DATA ARCHIVING, DATA
STANDARDS AND SOFTWARE TOOLS
THAT HAVE BEEN RUN OUT OF TEAM
DATA.
AND ALL THIS IS TOWARD THE GOAL
OF BUILDING A CONSORTIUM THAT
WILL REALLY INTEGRATE ANALYSES
ACROSS ALL DOMAINS, ALL
TECHNOLOGIES, DIFFERENT
BEHAVIORS AS WELL AS ACROSS
DIFFERENT MODEL ORGANISMS,
INCLUDING HUMANS.
SO STAY TUNED ON THAT.
AFTER QUITE A BIT OF WORK WE
FINALLY WERE ABLE TO GET OUT THE
DOOR PROPOSALS FOR A PROGRAM
WHERE WE'RE LOOKING TO BUILD A
STRONGER WORKFORCE, A STRONGER,
MORE DIVERSE WORKFORCE TO
DEVELOP FOLKS WITH CLINICAL
BACKGROUNDS INTO THESE
INTRACRANIAL AND NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH PROGRAMS.
SO THE IDEA IS I THINK BRAIN HAS
BEEN SUPPORTING SOME REALLY
CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH IN HUMAN
NEUROSCIENCE THAT'S RELYING ON
INTRACRANIAL RECORDING AND
INTRACRANIAL MODULATION, AND THE
CONCERN IS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE
FOLKS DOWN THE LINE WHO CAN
INTERFACE BETWEEN THE BASIC
RESEARCH AND THE PATIENTS
THEMSELVES.
SO HENCE THE GOAL OF TRYING TO
BRING IN AND TRAIN CLINICIANS
INTERESTED IN THE SPACE, AND
THIS WILL PROVIDE SALARY AND
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR SUCH FOLKS
FOR THREE TO FIVE YEARS.
SO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED OR KNOW
FOLKS WHO ARE INTERESTED, HERE'S
THE INFORMATION.
WE HAVE A ONE-SHOT DUE DATE
RIGHT NOW, BUT STAY TUNED FOR
FURTHER DEVELOP LTS.
OKAY.
SO HERE'S A SUMMARY FOR NEW
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
AS I MENTIONED, WE HAVE THIS
NOTICE OF SCIENTIFIC INTEREST
FOR THE BRAIN DATA ARCHIVE
INFORMATICS TOOLS AND STANDARDS,
AND WE'RE INVITING FOLKS WHO ARE
INTERESTED IN THE BBQS SPACE TO
TAKE A CAREFUL LOOK AT THAT.
THAT DEADLINE IS COMING UP VERY,
VERY SOON.
THE MENTORED CLINIC CLINICIAN-ST
RESEARCH CAREER DEVELOPMENT
K08 AWARD, DUE DATE COMING UP IN
FEBRUARY 2024, AND WE HAVE A
NUMB WE ARE OF RENUMBER OF REIS.
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPLEMENTS, WE
HAVE NOW SIGNED ON TO THE BRAIN
BLUEPRINT ENDURE PROGRAM WHICH
ESTABLISHES INSTITUTIONAL
TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR INCREASING
DIVERSITY IN THE SCIENTIFIC
STUDENT AND WORKFORCE, AND THEN
WE'LL ALSO HAVE A REISSUE OF
THIS NOVEL TOOLS FOR
CELL-SPECIFIC AND
CIRCUIT-SPECIFIC PROCESSES IN
THE BRAIN, IT'S AN R01.
OKAY.
WITH REGARD TO OUR MAIN
INVOLVEMENT IN THE NIH BLUEPRINT
EFFORT, THE ENDURE PROGRAM, THIS
INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM FOR
DIVERSIFYING OUR WORKFORCE,
THERE WILL BE A TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE WEBINAR COMING UP ON
SEPTEMBER 20TH, SO IF YOU'RE
INTERESTED IN REPRESENTING YOUR
INSTITUTION FOR A POSSIBLE
ENDURE AWARD, PLEASE LOG ON AND
REGISTER FOR THAT WEBINAR.
SO JUST AGAIN A LISTING OF OUR
VARIOUS TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES,
WE HAVE SOME GENERAL TRAINING
OPPORTUNITY SHOWN IN THE UPPER
PANEL HERE.
AN F32 AWARD, THE K08 AWARDS I
JUST MENTIONED TO YOU AND ALSO
THOSE RE-ENTRY SUPPLEMENT
MECHANISMS THAT WE HAVE ON THE
THIRD LINE.
AND THEN A GROWING NUMBER OF
DIVERSITY-FOCUSED AWARDS.
THE R25 BRAIN BLUEPRINT ENDURE
PROGRAM WHICH I JUST MENTIONED
TO YOU, WE HAVE OUR DSPAN
PROGRAM, AGAIN, RUN TOGETHER
WITH OUR SISTER BLUEPRINT
PROGRAM TO F99/K00, SO THIS IS
SENIOR STAGE GRADUATE STUDENT
TRANSITIONING INTO POSTDOC
AWARDS.
AND THEN OUR K99 TRANSITION TO
INDEPENDENCE AWARDS, WHICH IS
SPECIAL, DIVERSITY FOCUSED
AWARDS FOR FOLKS FROM
UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
INCLUDING WOMEN, SO OUR
K99/R00s.
AND THEN WE ACCEPT ROLLING
APPLICATIONS FOR DIVERSITY
SUPPLEMENTS AS WELL FOR FOLKS
THAT HAVE CURRENTLY FUNDED BRAIN
AWARDS.
THIS WE LOOK AT THIS NOT JUST AA
SERIES OF ONE-OFFS BUT A PATHWAY
TO BUILD A STRONG WORKFORCE TO
SUPPORT THE KINDS OF RESEARCH
THAT WE HAVE BEEN STRIVING TO
PUSH FORWARD.
SO SUSAN, HOW AM I DOING ON
TIME?
>>YOU'VE GOT ABOUT 14 MINUTES
LEFT.
>>OKAY, WE'RE GOOD.
I'M TALKING FAST.
I HAD A LOT OF COFFEE THIS
MORNING.
SO I JUST WANTED TO GO THROUGH A
COUPLE OF SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS AND
THEY'RE KIND OF ON THE
TECH/TECHNOLOGY SIDE THIS TIME.
I PROMISED TO SHOW SOME MAYBE
CIRCUITSY KIND OF SIDE.
NOW ONE OF THE BIG GOALS THAT WE
HAVE IN THE BRAIN INITIATIVE,
THE MAIN GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND
THE NEURAL CIRCUIT BEHAVIOR, WE
NEED TO BE ABLE TO MONITOR
CIRCUIT ACTIVITY, NOT JUST IN A
COUPLE CELLS BUT ACROSS ENTIRE
CIRCUITS OR HOPEFULLY ACROSS --
PARTS OF THE BRAIN.
ONE APPROACH IS TO ACTUALLY LOOK
AT CHANGES IN VOLTAGE.
THIS IS WHAT MOST NEURONS DO AS
THEY GO ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS.
UP UNTIL NOW, THE USE OF
GENETICALLY ENCODED VOLTAGE
INDICATORS OR GEVIs HAS BEEN
CHALLENGED FOR A COUPLE OF
REASONS.
ONE IS THAT UNLIKE MANY OF THE
GENETICALLY ENCODED CALCIUM
SENSORS, THE SIGNAL OUTPUT IS
VERY LOW COMPARED TO ENERGY THAT
ONE NEEDS TO PUT INTO THESE
FLUORESCENT SPACE INDICATORS SO
YOU CAN EEK OUT A LITTLE BIT OF
SIGNAL BUT YOU WIND OUT
OVERHEATING OR ACTUALLY DAMAGING
THE TISSUE.
THERE'S ISSUES WITH BLEACHING.
MANY OF THESE GEVIs ACTUALLY
FUNCTION BY DECREASING
FLUORESCENCE IN RESPONSE TO
DEPOLARIZATION, WHICH ACTUALLY
LIMITS YOUR SIGNAL TO NOISE
ESPECIALLY THESE SMALLER
CHANGES.
SO A NUMBER OF ADVANCES HAVE
BEEN MADE IN A TRIO OF PAPERS
THAT JUST CAME OUT IN NATURE
METHODS.
I'LL GO OVER THIS VERY QUICKLY,
WHERE THEY TOOK THESE ASAP-BASED
SENSORS FROM STANFORD, AND
TYPICALLY THESE SENSORS SHOW A
DECREASE IN FLUORESCENCE UPON
DEPOLARIZATION.
THEY HAVE SO CALLED NEGATIVE --
WHAT THEY DID IS WENT THROUGH A
SERIES OF MUTATIONS TO MAKE THEM
FLEX THE OTHER WAY, INCREASE IN
FLUORESCENCE UPON
DEPOLARIZATION.
SO THAT WAS GOOD.
AND THERE'S A SENSITIVITY IN
SIGNAL TO NOISE ISSUE, BUT THEY
ALSO DEVELOPED A PARALLEL, TO
BIG INNOVATIONS.
ONE, A 2 PHOTON IMAGING METHOD
THAT ALLOWS THEM TO DETECT THESE
CHANGES THAT ARE MUCH SMALLER IN
INTENSITY AND ALSO DEVELOPED A
REALLY COOL DENOISING ALGORITHM
THAT LETS THEM EXTRACT EVEN MORE
DATA OUT OF IT.
ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN SEE THE
TRACE OF -- AND ON THE BOTTOM,
THE SPIKING CELLS, SO A VERY
RAPID AND VERY HIGH PRECISION
CHANGES CAN BE DETECTED IN THE
VOLTAGE.
SO AT THE SAME TIME, THEY
INITIALLY DEVELOPED THESE
ASAPs, THEY INVERTED THE
ASAPs AND NOW THEY'RE
POSITIVE-GOING AS I SHOWED YOU
BEFORE FROM THE OTHER GROUP BUT
NOW THEY'RE ULTRA FAST AND
REALLY COOL THING IS THEY CAN
GIVE SUSTAINED RESPONSES.
ON THE RIGHT ARE TRACES ON THE
TOP, THE SAME CELL
SIMULTANEOUSLY ON THE TOP WITH
THE CALCIUM SENSOR SO YOU CAN
SEE THESE RELATIVELY SLOWER
WAVES AND ON THE BOTTOM, THE
SPIKING ACTIVITY, THE ASAP4E
VARIANT, AND YOU CAN SEE THESE
VERY FAST SPIKES, BUT THEY CAN
DO THIS FOR MINUTES.
SO PREVIOUSLY YOU COULD NOT DO
THIS FOR A SUSTAINED AMOUNT OF
TIME, SO THEY'RE GETTING BOTH --
ABILITY TO LOOK THE A THESE IN A
SUSTAINED WAY.
AND THE FINAL EXAMPLE IS FROM
ADAM CONCERN'S LAB.
NOW THEY'RE USING A REALLY COOL
SCREENING PLATFORM THEY'VE
IDENTIFIED TWO VARIANTS THAT
GIVE MUCH FASTER KINETICS AND IN
THE TRACING ON THE RIGHT, THESE
ARE TWO CELLS FROM HIPPOCAMPUS
THAT ARE ELECTRICALLY COUPLED,
AND YOU CAN SEE THE SIMULTANEOUS
RECORDING OF THOSE, THE VERY
CLOSE COUPLING OF THEIR SPIKING
ACTIVITIES.
SO TOGETHER THESE WILL ENABLE
FOLKS TO LOOK AT LARGER NETWORKS
OF ACTIVITY USING VOLTAGE.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT A PROXY OF
NEURAL ACTIVITY, WE'RE ACTUALLY
LOOKING DIRECTLY AT NEURAL
ACTIVITY WITH THESE COOL NEW
TOOLS, AND I THINK I'M LOOKING
FORWARD TO SOME EXCITING
RESEARCH THAT WILL BE CONDUCTED
WITH THESE NEW TOOLS.
SO A REALLY GREAT BREAK THROUGH
FOR THE FIELD WITH THIS TRIO OF
ADVANCES.
HERE'S A PROJECT IN PART WITH
FUNDING FROM BRAIN AWARD, WHERE
THEY HAVE RELEASED THE COMPLETE
CONNECTOME MAP OF A SINGLE FRUIT
FLY.
THERE WERE A BUNCH OF
BIOARCHIVED PAPERS THAT HAVE
BEEN POSTED AND THE VERY
SIGNIFICANT THING HERE I WANT TO
CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO IS THIS
FLYWIRE WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN
NOW GO IN AND USE THE DATA.
THESE DATA WERE CONSTRUCTED
FROM, AGAIN, ONE INDIVIDUAL
FEMALE FRUIT FLY.
IT REQUIRED PROOFREADING I THINK
FROM HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, YOU CAN
CORRECT ME IF I'M WAY OFF BASE,
AND I THINK THIS WILL BE A
POWERFUL TOOL FOR THE FIELD TO
HAVE ACCESS TO THIS KIND OF
INFORMATION TO HELP AND INFORM
HYPOTHESES, DESIGN EXPERIMENTS
AND VERY IMPORTANTLY TO FALSIFY
THEIR HYPOTHESES AS THEY GO
ALONG, QUITE USEFUL FOR CIRCUITS
OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN FRUIT
FLIES.
SO CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU GUYS
FOR THIS GREAT WORK, AND WE LOOK
FORWARD TO EVEN MORE TO COME.
OKAY.
SO A COUPLE THINGS GOING ON IN
THE HUMAN DOMAIN.
THIS IS A PAPER FROM BOB KNIGHT
AND PETER BRUNER FUNDED IN PART
FROM BRAIN BUT ALSO TOGETHER
WITH NINDS AND NIBIB.
HERE WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS
THEY'VE USED INTRACRANIAL
RECORDINGS IN 29 PATIENTS WHO
ARE THEY HAD LISTEN TO OR
SUBJECTED TO THE PINK FLOYD SONG
"ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL."
WALTER THINKS THEY SHOULD HAVE
USED GRATEFUL DEAD BUT THIS IS
WHAT THEY CHOSE AT THE TIME.
THEY MANAGED TO OBTAIN
RECORDINGS MAINLY OVER
SUPERIOR -- THEY FOUND TO DECODE
THIS INFORMATION AND TO BE ABLE
TO PLAY IT BACK IN SOME
SEMBLANCE OF WHAT THE SONG
INITIALLY SOUNDED LIKE.
SO I'M HAVING AUDIO PROBLEMS,
BUT IF YOU CAN SING ALONG IN
YOUR MIND AS THESE PATIENTS, I
GUESS, WERE DOING TO
SOME DEGREE, WHAT THE SONG
SOUNDED LIKE, THEY COULD TAKE
THESE RECEPTIVE FIELD DATA AND
ACTUALLY USING A NON-LINEAR
MODEL HAVE A PRETTY GOOD
PLAYBACK OF WHAT THE SONG
SOUNDED LIKE.
SO WHY IS THIS AT ALL RELEVANT?
I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF COOL, BUT
AGAIN, THEY ZEROED IN ON THE
SUPERIOR TEMPORAL GYRUS AS A
REGION THAT CODES THIS
INFORMATION.
I'VE TALKED TO YOU BEFORE ABOUT
SOME BRAIN-TO-SPEECH,
BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE
NEUROPROSTHETICS THAT HAVE BEEN
DEVELOPED BY EDDIE CHANG'S GROUP
FROM UCSF AND SIMILAR WORK
THAT'S BEEN DONE BY THE BRAIN
GATE 2 CONSORTIUM.
THE SYNTHSEUZER THAT EDDIE'S
GROUP HAS MADE, THE VOICE IS
QUITE SYNTHETIC, THOSE OLD
THINGS WE USED TO HAVE ON OUR
OWN CELL PHONES.
THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT HERE IS
THAT BY COMBINING THE ABILITY TO
DECORRODE INFORMATION ABOUT
MUSIC, RHYTHM, WHAT HAVE YOU, IT
GIVES THE POSSIBILITY OF ADDING
ADDITIONAL NUANCE INTO THESE
SPEECH SYNTHESIZERS.
SO AS WE ALL KNOW, VERBAL
COMMUNICATION IS MORE ABOUT THAN
JUST WORDS.
THERE'S INTONATION, THERE'S
NUANCE AND SUCH, SO THIS MIGHT
BE ANOTHER AVENUE TO EXPLORE IN
TERMS OF HOW TO MAKE THESE TYPES
OF NEURAL PROSTHESES EVEN MORE
EFFECTIVE FOR THE PATIENTS WHO
NEED THEM.
SO STAY TUNED ON THIS.
I'M SORRY THE SOUND ISN'T
WORKING HERE, BUT AGAIN, YOU CAN
HUM ALONG IN YOUR HEAD WHAT YOU
THINK THE SONG MIGHT HAVE
SOUNDED LIKE.
WE ALSO HAD SOME DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE DBS SPACE.
THIS IS A PAPER THAT WAS JUST
PUBLISHED WHERE THEY CONDUCTED
FIRST IN HUMAN TRIALS ON A DOZEN
PATIENTS WHO SUFFERED STROKE,
AND HERE TO REGAIN MOTOR
ACTIVITY, THEY'VE NOW IDENTIFIED
THE CEREBELLAR DENTATE NUCLEUS
AS A POTENTIALLY EFFECTIVE SITE
FOR DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION TO
RECOVER NEURAL FUNCTION.
IN FACT, IN 9 OUT OF THE 12
PATIENTS, THEY SAW SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE IN THEIR VARIOUS SCORES
IN TERMS OF RECOVERING MOTOR
FUNCTION, UPPER ARM MOBILITY AND
WHAT HAVE YOU, AND THEY'VE ALSO
SHOWN WITH PET CT THAT THIS
ELICITED INCREASED METABOLIC
ACTIVITY IN THE PERILEAGUESAL
SPACEPERILESIONALSPACE IN THE C.
SO ANOTHER WAY IN TO HELP
PATIENTS WHO HAVE LOST MOTOR
FUNCTION FOLLOWING STROKE.
I THINK THE LAST TIME I TOLD YOU
ABOUT THE -- FROM PITT THAT USED
EPIDURAL SPINAL STIMULATION TO
ASSIST IN RECOVERY OF MOTOR
FUNCTION.
AND SO THIS IS ADDING TO A
GROWING LIST OF APPLICATIONS OF
THESE NEUROTECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE
ALREADY HELPING TO START
PATIENTS IN CLINIC.
THIS IS AN EARLY STUDY.
9 OUT OF THE 12 PATIENTS HERE
BENEFITED.
THE THREE THAT DIDN'T, I THINK
HAD VERY LIMITED FUNCTION, SO
RIGHT NOW THE TEAM IS HARD AT
WORK TO FIGURE OUT -- TO FIGURE
OUT EXACTLY WHO WILL BENEFIT
FROM THESE KINDS OF DBS
THERAPIES, AND MOVING ON TO A
LARGER CLINICAL TRIAL I HOPE IN
THE FUTURE.
SO STAY TUNED ON THIS, BUT AGAIN
A VERY EXCITING DEVELOPMENT IN A
FIELD OF DEVELOPMENTS WE'VE SEEN
OVER THE LAST YEAR OR TWO IN
APPLYING DBS THERAPIES TO A
WHOLE RANGE OF BRAIN DISORDERS.
OKAY, FINALLY, I THINK THIS IS
MY LAST SCIENCE SLIDE UPDATE,
HERE'S A STUDY THAT WAS ALSO
PUBLISHED RECENTLY FROM UCLA WHO
WERE GETTING AT THIS IDEA OF
NEEDING AND WANTING TO BE ABLE
TO MONITOR NEURAL ACTIVITY AS
WELL AS BEHAVIOR IN WHAT I WOULD
CALL -- THEY DEVELOPED A DEVICE
THAT'S ABLE TO TAKE AND PROCESS
RECORDINGS, BOTH SINGLE UNIT AS
WELL AS LFP AND ALSO FROM
INTRACRANIAL EEG RECORDINGS AND
ALSO IN A CLOSED LOOP FASHION.
IT WAS WIRELESS SO THE PATIENT
COULD GET OUT OF BED AND WALK
AROUND THE ROOM, WHICH IS NOT
QUITE BEHAVING IN THE WILD BUT
IT'S A LOT BETTER THAN LYING IN
THE HOSPITAL BED, AND THEY CAN
NOW COMBINE THIS WITH BEHAVIORAL
INPUTS, EYE TRACKING CAMERAS, ET
CETERA, SO THIS IS GETTING
CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING HUMAN --
THE NEURAL BASIS OF HUMAN
BEHAVIOR IN THE WILD.
AND THEY HAVE AN ONBOARD
PROCESSING PROCESSING UNIT THATW
TAKE THESE DATA AND ON THE FLY
MODULATE CLOSED LOOP STIM LAY SS
FOR PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY, FOR
EXAMPLE.
-- IN TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING
BEHAVIOR IN HUMANS, SO STAY
TUNED FOR THAT.
SO THAT'S IT FOR MY SCIENCE
UPDATES.
I JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU
THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT US ON OUR
WEBSITE, WE HAVE THE BRAIN BLOG,
THE NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE,
THE GUIDE NOTICES, BUT VERY
IMPORTANTLY IF YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS,
YOUR BEST POINT OF CONTACT WILL
BE THE PROGRAM OFFICERS, AND
THEY'RE ALWAYS HAPPY AND READY
TO STAND BY TO HELP YOU WITH ANY
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
I'LL STOP THERE AND TAKE ANY
QUESTIONS.
>>WE ONLY HAVE A COUPLE MINUTES
BUT ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?
PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND IF
>>STUNNED AT THE SILENCE.
SORRY.
>>I'M NOT SEEING ANY RIGHT NOW.
EVERYTHING WAS PERFECTLY CLEAR.
>>I DOUBT THAT, BUT -- WE'LL
GET PEOPLE --
>>WHY DON'T WE MOVE ON THEN TO
DR. CHRISTINE GRADY TO UPDATE US
ON SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS FROM
YESTERDAY'S NEUROETHICS WORKING
GROUP MEETING.
>>THANK YOU, SUSAN.
THANK YOU, JOHN, ACTUALLY THAT
WAS -- I FOUND THE PINK FLOYD
MUSIC THING VERY INTERESTING.
VERY INTERESTING.
WISH I HAD SOMETHING AS EXCITING
AS THAT.
>>SORRY, THEY WANTED ME TO
UPDATE SOMETHING AND I JUST
DIDN'T DARE, SO -- BUT YOU GUYS
CAN LISTEN.
>>OKAY.
SO JUST IN CASE THERE ARE PEOPLE
WHO ARE NEW WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT
THE NEUROETHICS WORKING GROUP
IS, THIS IS A GROUP OF NINE
PEOPLE WHO ARE EXPERTS IN
NEUROETHICS AND NEUROSCIENCE
THAT PROVIDE SOME NEUROETHICS
INPUT TO THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
IT STARTED IN LATE 2015, AND I
HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF
CO-CHAIRING IT ALONG WITH
DR. NITA FA RHANI, WHO'S FROM
DUKE.
WE MEET TWICE A YEAR, IN JANUARY
AND AUGUST, AND HOLD SOME
TOPICAL WORKSHOPS WHEN
APPROPRIATE.
SO WE DID MEET YESTERDAY.
WE'VE BEEN QUITE BUSY LATELY, I
THINK.
I THINK YOU ALREADY HEARD FROM
JOHN ABOUT THE WORKSHOP ON DATA
SHARING THAT WAS HELD IN JULY.
THAT WAS A TWO-DAY WORKSHOP.
AND WE ACTUALLY HAD IN-PERSON
PARTICIPATION AS WELL AS HYBRID
PARTICIPATION.
AND WHAT WE DID AT THE WORKSHOP
AS YOU HEARD WAS TO DISCUSS THE
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF
SHARING INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL HUMAN
BRAIN DATA, FOCUSING PRIMARILY
ON THE BENEFITS AND THE RISKS
AND THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN
BENEFITS AND RISKS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE TRIED
TO DO AT THAT WORKSHOP WAS TALK
ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PUTTING
TOGETHER A FRAMEWORK THAT MIGHT
CONTEXTUALIZE OR CONCEPTUALIZE,
EXCUSE ME, THE COMPLEXITIES OF
BRAIN DATA.
PERHAPS THROUGH LIKE A SPECTRUM
OF RISK THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT
BOTH THE LIKELIHOOD AND THE
MAGNITUDE OF POTENTIAL RISK FROM
SHARING BRAIN DATA.
WE ALSO, I THINK JOHN MENTIONED
WE HAD BREAKOUT SESSIONS, AND
THE BREAKOUT SESSIONS FOCUSED ON
TALKING ABOUT POTENTIAL
SAFEGUARDS THAT MIGHT MITIGATE
ANY RISKS OF DATA SHARING.
AND ONE OF THOSE BREAKOUT GROUPS
WAS FOCUSED ON INFORMED CONSENT.
SO OUR MEETING YESTERDAY, THE
NEUROETHICS WORKING GROUP, THE
FOCUS OF THAT MEETING WAS TO
TAKE A DEEPER DIVE INTO ISSUES
RELATED TO INFORMED CONSENT, AND
JIM EVERWINE, WHO'S A MEMBER OF
THIS COUNCIL AS WELL, WAS
GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO CO-CHAIR IT
YESTERDAY WITH ME AND RUN SOME
OF THE SESSIONS.
WHAT WE FOCUSED ON YESTERDAY WAS
DISCLOSURE PRIMARILY AND
PARTICIPANT CONTROL IN THE
DECISIONS ABOUT SHARING THEIR
HUMAN BRAIN DATA.
SO WITH RESPECT TO DISCLOSURE,
WE ASKED BASICALLY THE QUESTION
WHAT DO INDIVIDUALS NEED TO
UNDERSTAND PRIOR TO SHARING
THEIR BRAIN DATA?
AND IN WHAT LEVEL OF DETAIL?
THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION
ABOUT -- FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE
GROUP, THE IMPORTANCE OF
UNDERSTANDING CROSS-CULTURAL AND
COMMUNITY-BASED CONSIDERATIONS
IN THIS DISCUSSION OF WHAT TO
DISCLOSE, BECAUSE CERTAIN
CULTURES AND COMMUNITIES MIGHT
UNDERSTAND RESEARCH OR
UNDERSTAND RESEARCH RISKS
DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHERS.
WE ALSO DISCUSSED THE SORT OF
CHALLENGE OF TALKING ABOUT
POTENTIAL RISKS, RISKS THAT ARE
CURRENTLY UNKNOWN OR THE
UNCERTAINTY OF WHAT MIGHT COME
IN THE FUTURE IN TERMS OF
SCIENTIFIC POSSIBILITIES, AND
THE POSSIBILITY OF WHAT DO YOU
DO ABOUT THAT.
CAN YOU GO BACK AND RE-CONSENT
PEOPLE, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THAT
IS A VERY DIFFICULT PROCESS.
THEN THE SECOND PART OF THE
PANEL WAS, IN ADDITION TO
DISCLOSURE, WAS TALKING ABOUT
DIFFERENT MODELS OF INFORM
CONSENT.
WE HEARD FROM DR. LUCILA
ONORISHADA WHO WAS INSTRUMENTAL
IN PUTTING TOGETHER THIS PROJECT
CALLED I CONCUR OR I AGREE,
WHICH PROVIDES PARTICIPANTS WHO
ARE BEING ASKED TO SHARE THEIR
DATA WITH THE OPTION OF CHOOSE G
THE LEVEL OF DETAILED PERSONAL
INFORMATION THAT IS SHARED WHEN
THEIR DATA IS SHARED.
FIRST OF ALL, SHARING YOUR DATA
OR NOT, BUT SECONDLY, THERE'S A
MODULE THAT THEY GET TO CHOOSE
WHAT KINDS OF PERSONAL
INFORMATION THEY ARE WILLING TO
SHARE AND WHAT KINDS THEY'RE
NOT.
WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT DYNAMIC
CONSENT PROCEDURES, IN WHICH
THERE'S A PERSONALIZED
COMMUNICATION INTERFACE THAT
ENABLES GREATER PARTICIPANT
ENGAGEMENT, IN WHICH PEOPLE CAN
CONSENT TWO NEW PROJECTS OVER
TIME OR ALTER THEIR CONSENT
CHOICES OVER TIME.
AND ALSO IT'S A GREAT MECHANISM
FOR COMMUNICATING WHAT KINDS OF
RESEARCH ARE BEING DONE AND
FINDINGS.
AND THEN DR. AMY McGUIRE FROM
BAYLOR PRESENTED ON A STUDY THAT
SHE HAD DONE OF CONSENT FOR
GENETIC DATA SHARING AND TALKED
ABOUT SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS
OF THE FINDINGS OF THAT STUDY
FOR SHARING BRAIN DATA.
AND A COUPLE OF INTERESTING
THINGS FROM HER PRESENTATION.
ONE WAS THAT PERHAPS NOT
SURPRISINGLY, HOW CONSENT IS
FRAMED CAN IMPACT HOW WILLING
PEOPLE ARE TO SHARE THEIR DATA.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, THE WORDS
REALLY DO MATTER, WHAT THEY'RE
TOLD REALLY DOES MATTER IN TERMS
OF WHAT PEOPLE DECIDE TO DO
ABOUT SHARING THEIR DATA.
THE OTHER THING SHE MENTIONED
WAS THAT -- GENERALLY THE
RESEARCH, HER RESEARCH AND OTHER
RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT WHAT
PEOPLE HYPOTHETICALLY SAY
THEY'RE WILLING TO SHARE -- WHAT
THEY WILL CHOOSE TO SHARE AND
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SHARE WHEN
ASKED IN A REAL-LIFE SITUATION,
CAN VASTLY DIFFER.
AND SHE ALSO NOTED THAT THE
POPULATIONS THAT YOU ASK VARY
QUITE DRAMATICALLY IN SOME CASES
IN CHOOSING WHETHER OR NOT THEY
PRIORITIZE PROTECTING PRIVACY OF
THEIR DATA OVER ADVANCING
RESEARCH OR VICE VERSA.
SO WE CONCLUDED YESTERDAY THAT
IT'S NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR WHICH
MODEL OF CONSENT IS THE BEST,
BUT IT DOES SEEM IMPORTANT TO
PROVIDE INFORMATION TO HELP
PARTICIPANTS MAKE CHOICES AND TO
RESPECT THEIR CHOICES, AND THE
MEMBERS OF THE NEUROETHICS
WORKING GROUP WERE INVITED TO
THINK ABOUT WHAT KIND OF
INFORMATION TO PROVIDE TO
PEOPLE, HOW TO HELP PEOPLE MAKE
DECISIONS, AND HOW TO GIVE THEM
A SENSE OF THE KINDS OF RISKS
THAT SHARING DATA MIGHT ENTAIL,
AND THE UNCERTAINTY OF FUTURE
RISKS BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY
OF FUTURE SCIENTIFIC
POSSIBILITIES WITHOUT OVERAGE
RATINGOVEREXAGGERATING THESE RIR
OVERHIGH PRESSURING THEM WHICH
ALSO MAY BE INACCURATE.
YESTERDAY WE ALSO -- DR. JAY
CHURCHILL ALSO GAVE THE
NEUROETHICS WORKING GROUP AND
OVERVIEW OF THE NEUROETHICS
RESEARCH THAT HAS BEEN SUPPORTED
BY BRAIN TO DATE, AND MANY OF
THE THEMES THAT WE DISCUSSED IN
THE DATA SHARING PARTS OF THE
MEETING EMERGED AS BOTH
POTENTIAL AND FUTURE RESEARCH
AREAS THAT MIGHT BE SUPPORTED BY
BRAIN GOING FORWARD.
SO THAT'S A SUMMARY OF WHAT WE
DID YESTERDAY BASED ON THE
WORKSHOP IN JULY, AND I'M HAPPY
TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT
ANYBODY MIGHT HAVE.
AND THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO
WERE THERE YESTERDAY.
>>THAT WAS A GREAT DISCUSSION
WE HAD.
>>YEP.
>>OKAY.
NO QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON?
>>NO, DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT.
>>THANKS FOR INVITING ME.
>>THANK YOU, CHRISTINE, FOR ALL
THAT YOU DO.
WE REALLY DO APPRECIATE IT.
FLOH, ARE YOU HERE?
THERE'S FLOH.
SO IT IS MY PLEASURE TO
INTRODUCE FLOH THIELS FROM NSF.
SO I THINK AS MANY OF YOU MAY
KNOW OR HOPEFULLY DO KNOW, THE
U.S. BRAIN INITIATIVE IS A PART
OF FIVE FEDERAL AGENCIES, AND
ONE OF OUR VERY CLOSE PARTNERS
IS OF COURSE THE NATIONAL
SCIENCE FOUNDATION.
SO WE'LL HAVE A BRIEF
PRESENTATION ABOUT WHAT'S GOING
ON AT NSF IN THIS SPACE.
FLOH IS THE DIRECTOR FOR
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AT NSF.
SHE'S CURRENTLY DETAILED TO THE
CONVERGENCE ACCELERATOR, THIS
EXCITING NEW PROGRAM AT THE NSF,
DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY,
INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS.
SHE ALSO SERVES AS PROGRAM
DIRECTOR IN A BUNCH OF OTHER
PROGRAMS INCLUDING THE NEXT
GENERATION NETWORKS OF
NEUROSCIENCE, A COLLABORATION IN
COMPUTATION NEUROSCIENCE
EMERGING FRONTIERS, RESEARCH AND
INNOVATION AND ETHICAL AND
RESPONSIVE RESEARCH.
SO PRIOR TO JOINING NSF, FLOH
WAS ON THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY
OUNIVERSITYOF PITTSBURGH SCHOOLF
MEDICINE.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I'VE REALLY
ENJOYED WORKING WITH FLOH, WAS
IT ABOUT EIGHT OR NINE YEARS
AGO, YOU LITERALLY WROTE ME IN
TO BEING INVOLVED IN THIS WHACKY
EXPERIMENT THAT NSF RAN AS ONE
OF THEIR FIRST FORAYS INTO THE
BRAIN INITIATIVE.
IT WAS THIS WHAT THEY CALL IDEAS
LAB FOR FINDING OLD NEW CRAZY
IDEAS FOR CRACKING THE OLFACTORY
CODE, AND SHE AND -- LITERALLY
TWISTED MY ARM AS A MENTOR, THEY
BROUGHT IN ABOUT 40 OR 50
NEUROSCIENTISTS, I HAD NO IDEA
WHO WAS GOING TO BE THERE.
THEY LITERALLY LOCKED US IN FOR
A WEEK AND THEY SHOOK US UP AND
OUT CAME A BUNCH OF REALLY COOL
PROJECTS, SOME OF WHICH ARE
BEING FUNDED BY BRAIN.
SO I WOULD HAVE REGRETTED NOT
SAYING YES, I'M GLAD YOU
CONVINCED ME, AND REALLY PLEASED
TO HAVE YOU HERE TO TELL US
ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON AT NSF
THESE DAYS.
>>WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH,
JOHN.
THANK YOU FOR THAT INTRODUCTION,
AND YES, IT WAS GREAT HAVING YOU
AS A MENTOR AT THAT IDEAS LAB.
AND IN FACT, THE WORK OF THAT
IDEAS LAB SET THE GROUNDWORK FOR
ONE OF THE INITIATIVES I'M GOING
TO TALK ABOUT SHORTLY.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND FOR
THAT OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE
AUDIENCE.
AS MENTIONED I'M A PROGRAM
DIRECTOR AT THE NSF AND SPEND MY
TIME IN BOTH THE BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES DIRECTORATE AS WELL AS
THE NEWG.
COULD I HAVE THE FIRST SLIDE,
PLEASE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO WHAT I WANT TO DO TODAY IS
TAKE TIME TALKING ABOUT SOME
PROGRAMS, BUT FIRST TO ORIENT
YOU, JUST TO REMEMBER THAT THE
NSF SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN ALL
STEM DISCIPLINES AND FOCUSES
PRIMARILY ON BASIC RESEARCH, SO
IT'S NOT JUST FOCUSED ON
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH.
AND BY BASIC RESEARCH, WE ARE
REALLY LOOKING AT RESEARCH
DRIVEN BY CURIOSITY AND
DISCOVERY.
NSF ALSO SUPPORTS -- THE RECENT
FORMATION OF THE DIRECTORATE
THAT WE JUST MENTIONED, FOR
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AND
PARTNERSHIPS THAT WAS KREA ATED
LAST YEAR.
THE MISSION OF THE DIRECTORATE
IS TO BRIDGE CURIOSITY-DRIVEN
RESEARCH.
THIS IS CONDUCTED BY WHAT WE
CALL THE CORE DIRECTORATES --
GROW INDUSTRY, CREATE NEW JOBS
AND CULTIVATE AN EQUITABLE STEM
WORKFORCE ACROSS THE NATION.
SO SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT YOU CAN
SEE HERE ON THIS SLIDE ON THE
LEFT SIDE, COVER PROGRAMS FROM
THE DIRECT TEMPERATURE.
SO I WILL ALSO COVER SOME
PROGRAMS LAUNCHED BY NSF UNDER
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE, OR
OTHERWISE PERTINENT TO THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE.
SO THE FIRST PROGRAM THAT I WANT
TO MENTION IS THE BIODESIGN DEAR
COLLEAGUE LETTER.
BIOINSPIREED DESIGN IS THE
PROCESS BY WHICH INVESTIGATORS
TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE
NATURAL WORLD TO DISCOVER
GENERAL PRINCIPLES ABOUT
BIOLOGICAL AND/OR ENGINEERING
SYSTEMS.
AND USE THEM TO INFORM AND
GENERATE NEW DESIGN DIRECTIONS
FOR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS OR
PRODUCTS.
SO TO FACILITATE THE TRANSLATION
OF KNOWLEDGE GENERATED THROUGH
THE BASIC RESEARCH AND
BIOLOGICAL AND ENGINEERING
SCIENCES TO SOLUTION OF
PROTOTYPES NEEDED FOR SOCIETAL
AND ECONOMIC IMPACT, NSF
SUPPORTS THROUGH THIS BIODESIGN
DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER DIRECTIVE
TRANSDISCIPLINARY THEMES THAT
WORK TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE THREE
GOALS.
ONE IS TO TEST HYPOTHESES ABOUT
THE FUNCTIONING OF LIVING THINGS
OR SYSTEMS THAT ARE OF INTEREST
TO BIOLOGISTS AND ENGINEERS.
THE SECOND IS TO CREATE AN
ITERATIVE PROCESS THAT GENERATES
ONGOING FEEDBACK BETWEEN
WORKFLOW OF FOUNDATIONAL AND
NEEDS INSPIRING RESEARCH, TO
DESIGN, ADVISE OR MACHINE AN
ALGORITHM OR A WORKFLOW THAT
SOLVES A PRACTICAL PROBLEM, AND
FINALLY, TO DEVELOP PROTOTYPES
BASED ON THESE ACTIVITIES AS
PART OF A PROCESS OF EXPLORING
PATHWAYS TO LARGER SOCIETAL AND
NICK BENEFITS.
AND -- BENEFITS.
SO THAT'S THE BIODESIGN PROGRAM,
DIVISIONS WITHIN THE BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES DIRECTORATE, THE
ENGINEERING DIRE DIRECTORATE.
ANOTHER NEW INITIATIVE IS THE
BIOFOUNDRIES.
SO BIOFOUNDRIES, ACTUALLY BOTH
THE ONE I JUST SPOKE ABOUT, THE
BIOFOUNDRIES, THEY GO ACROSS AS
YOU JUST NOTICED IN THE PREVIOUS
SLIDE, THEY HAVE MULTIPLE NSF
DIRECTORATES BUT ARE SPEARHEADED
BY -- SO BIOFOUNDRIES ARE
ENTITYS THAT AIM TO INTEGRATE
ADVANCES IN MODERN BIOLOGY,
CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY,
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND
BIOENGINEERING.
NANOTECHNOLOGY, MICRO
BIOFABRICATION, INTEGRATED
TESTING AND DATA, NAI-ENABLED
ANALYSIS AND AUTOMATION OF THE
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY PROCESS.
THE IDEA IS THAT A NETWORK OF
U.S. BIOFOUNDRIES COULD BRING
TOOLS OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
ACROSS THE U.S. SO ALL HAVE
ACCESS TO THE DESIGN, BUILD,
TEST AND -- CYCLE THAT YOU CAN
SEE ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF
THE SLIDE.
THESE TOOLS WOULD ENABLE RAPID
PROTOTYPING OF BIOLOGICAL
DESIGN, A ACCELERATING BOTH
FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH AND
TRANSLATION AND PROVIDING
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FROM
BIOTECH WORK -- BIOTECHNOLOGY.
PART OF HOW NSF ENVISIONS AND
EXPANDS GEOGRAPHY IN THE BIOTECH
SPACE AND YOU MAY NOTICE THERE'S
THIS THEME OF BIOTECHNOLOGY.
THIS IS REALLY IN RESPONSE TO
EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON ADVANCING
THE BIOTECHNOLOGY AND
BIOMANUFACTURING AND INNOVATION
FOR SUSTAINABLE, SAFE AND SECURE
AMERICAN BIOECONOMY AND THERE
HAVE BEEN OTHER REPORTS REALLY
CALLING FOR ADVANCES IN -- SO
BIOFOUNDRIES ARE ONE OF THOSE
PROGRAMS.
SO TO TELL YOU MORE, THE IDEA IS
THAT IT WILL PROVIDE
INTELLECTUAL, TECHNICAL, DIGITAL
AND PHYSICAL FRAME WORKS NEEDED
FOR TIGHT INTEGRATION OF
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND
APPLICATION WITH FOUNDATIONAL
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND
TRAINING.
AND SO IT COMBINES SERVING AS
ACCESS POINTS FOR NEW BIOLOGICAL
TECH THOLGS, WORKFLOWS,
PROCESSING, AUTOMATION AND
KNOWLEDGE BASIS TO ENABLE
TRANSFORMATIVE DISCOVERIES,
CATALYZING NEW INNOVATION AND
TRANSFORMATIVE DISCOVERIES, AND
BY SUPPORTING IN-HOUSE AND
EXTERNAL USER-INITIATED RESEARCH
PROGRAM, CONTINUING TO DEVELOP
NEW TECHNOLOGIES, WORKFLOWS,
PROCESSES, AUTOMATION AND
KNOWLEDGE BASIS, INCREASING THE
REPRODUCIBILITY OF LIFE
SCIENCES, DISCOVERY, DATA, AND
NEW TRAINING FOR NEXT GENERATION
OF THE SCIENTIFIC WORKFORCE AND
FACILITATING PATHWAYS TO
TRANSLATION.
AND SO WE THINK THAT THIS
ACTIVITY WILL ALSO BE LEVERAGED
BY BRAIN RESEARCHERS AND HAVE AN
IMPACT ON NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
AND EDUCATION.
SO NOW I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT
TWO PROGRAMS THAT COME OUT OF
THIS NEW DIRECTORATE.
THE FIRST ONE IS THE NSF
REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINES
PROGRAM.
THE GOAL OF THAT PROGRAM IS TO
BOOST INNOVATION CAPACITY,
PARTICULARLY IN REGIONS THAT
HAVE NOT REALLY PARTICIPATED IN
THE TECHNOLOGY BOOM IN THE PAST
FEW DECADES, TO INCREASE THE
LEVEL OF COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
ACROSS THESE DIFFERENT DISTINCT
GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS.
A CULTURE OF INNOVATION AND
INCLUSION WITHIN PARTICIPATING
ORGANIZATIONS, AND THOSE
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
INVOLVE COALITIONS OF DIVERSE
SECTORS AND ORGANIZATIONAL TYPES
SUCH AS SMALL BUSINESSES,
TWO-YEAR COLLEGES AND
MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS
ALONG WITH LARGE INSTITUTIONS.
THE IDEA IS TO CREATE
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
ECOSYSTEMS AND TRANSITION
TECHNOLOGIES -- TECHNOLOGICAL
EDUCATION INNOVATIONS TO ADDRESS
NATIONAL AND SOCIETAL
CHALLENGES.
AND SO THE NSF ENGINES PROGRAM,
WHICH JUST FUNDED ITS FIRST SET
OF DEVELOPMENT OR TYPE 1 AWARDS,
THERE ARE 44 OF THOSE AWARDS
THAT WERE MADE AND YOU CAN FIND
THEIR DISTRIBUTION ON THIS MAP
SHOWN HERE.
THEY ARE THE CIRCLES WITH THE
LITTLE GEAR INSIDE, SO --
CIRCLES, THESE SPAN A BROAD
RANGE OF STATE AS YOU CAN SEE
AND REGIONS.
THE IDEA IS TO ALLOW THE
ENTITIES THAT WE SEE IN THESE
DEVELOPMENT AWARDS TO ORGANIZE
AND CREATE CONNECTIONS AND
DEVELOP THEIR LOCAL ECOSYSTEM
WHERE THEY HAVE TWO YEARS TO
PREPARE A STRONG PROPOSAL FOR
BECOMING A FUTURE NSF ENGINE,
LIKE A FULL BLOWN REGIONAL
INNOVATION ENGINE.
SO FOR THESE FULL-BLOWN REGIONAL
INNOVATION ENGINES, THEY CAN
COMPETE FOR $160 MILLION EACH,
AND THE FIRST AWARD -- SO WE
MADE 44 AWARDS FOR THIS
DEVELOPMENT OF TYPE 1 TYPES OF
AWARDS AND ALSO HAVE FINALISTS
AND NARROWED IT DOWN TO 16
FINALISTS FOR THOSE LARGE
$160 MILLION AWARDS IN THE
REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINES AND
THEY'RE SHOWN HERE WITH THE
UNIFORM CYAN-COLORED DARK
TURQUOISE-COLORED DOTS.
OF PARTICULAR INTEREST PERHAPS
FOR THIS AUDIENCE IS THAT ONE OF
THOSE REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINE
FINALISTS, THAT'S NOT THE FINAL
AWARD, THEY'RE STILL COMPETING
AND WE ULTIMATELY WILL MAKE
ABOUT FIVE AWARDS, BUT ONE OF
THEM IS LAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE THAT IS
FOCUSING ON CENTRAL -- IT'S THE
CENTRAL CAROLINA -- FOR
INNOVATION IN -- OF MEDICINE
CLINICAL MANUFACTURING.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE DOTS IN
NORTH CAROLINA YOU CAN SEE HERE
ON THE MAP.
SO THE NEXT PROGRAM FROM THE TIP
DIRECTORATE IS THE CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATOR.
I'M ACTUALLY DOING A DETAIL IN
THAT PROGRAM RIGHT NOW.
SO THE IDEA OF THAT PROGRAM IS
BASED ON THAT RECOGNITION THAT
NATIONAL STEM SOCIETAL
CHALLENGES CANNOT BE SOLVED BY A
SINGLE DISCIPLINE BUT INSTEAD
REQUIRE THE MERGING OR
CONVERGENCE OF INNOVATIVE IDEAS,
APPROACHES AND TECHNOLOGIES FROM
A WIDE RANGE OF SECTORS, AS WELL
AS DISCIPLINES.
AND BY SECTORS, WE MEAN NOT JUST
ACADEMIA BUT GOVERNMENT,
NON-PROFIT, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS,
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
SO THE PROGRAM IS FOCUSED ON
CONVERSION RESEARCH APPROACHES
THAT ARE -- FED BY BASIC
RESEARCH, SO THE BASIC RESEARCH
THAT IS FUNDED BY THE OTHER
DIRECTORATES IS THE INPUT.
INTEGRATES TEAM FOR ACADEMIA AND
OTHER COMMUNITIES AS I JUST
MENTIONED AND IT OFFERS AND
INVOLVES AN INTENSIVE HANDS-ON
EDUCATION AND MENTORSHIP FROM
THE PARTICIPANTS.
SO IT HAS TWO PHASES.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SLIDE, ON
THE LEFT-HAND SIDE IN THE FIRST
PHASE, IT'S FOCUSED ON TEAM
CONVERGENCE AND PROOF OF CONCEPT
DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN THE SECOND
PHASE IS PROTOTYPING AND
SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING.
AND THEY'RE NOW THROUGH -- FROM
A THROUGH M AND I'M JUST SHOWING
HERE FOUR OF THOSE PROGRAMS OR
TRACKS THAT ARE PROBABLY OF MOST
INTEREST.
THE TWO MOST RECENT ONES ARE
SHOWN ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT.
ONE IS TRACK L, SO JOHN, THAT IS
INSPIRED AMONG OTHERS BY THE
IDEAS LAB, SO THAT TRACK IS REAL
WORLD CHEMICAL SENSING
APPLICATIONS.
IT BUILDS ON FOUNDATIONAL
KNOWLEDGE AND -- OLFACTION IN
CHEMICAL -- ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, MET MORPHIC
SYSTEMS, COMPUTATIONAL MODELING
BY MANUFACTURING ROBOTICS,
ADVANCED CHALLENGES RELATED TO
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
MONITORING, DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS,
FOOD SAFETY, AGRICULTURE,
SECURITY -- AM OT AMONG OTHER T.
WE ALSO HAVE A COLLABORATION
WITH TWO SWEDISH FUNDING AGENCY
FORCE THIS TRACK.
AND TRACK M, BIOINSPIRED DESIGN
INNOVATIONS CAPITALIZE ON
FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF
NATURE, APPROACHES AND
TECHNOLOGIES, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE
SEE IN NATURE TO ADDRESS COMPLEX
SOCIETAL CHALLENGES INCLUDING
CLIMATE CHANGE, INFRASTRUCTURE
MONITORING AND RESILIENCE FOOD
PRODUCTION AND HUMAN HEALTH.
SO I'M SWITCHING GEARS A LITTLE
BIT.
THOSE WERE NEW PROGRAMS.
AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER
QUESTIONS ABOUT THEM LATER.
SO I WANT TO TURN ATTENTION TO
SOME PROGRAMS THAT ARE EITHER
PART OF OR WERE LAUNCHED UNDER
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
ONE THAT IS FAMILIAR HOPEFULLY
TO MANY IN THE ROOM IS THE
LABTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM,
PROVIDES A RICH SET OF TECHNICAL
APPROACHES FOR UNDERSTANDING
COMPLEX NEUROBIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
WHILE BUILDING ON THE THEORY,
METHODS AND FINDINGS OF COMPUTER
SCIENCE, NEUROSCIENCE AND OTHER
RELATED DISCIPLINES.
THE CRCNS PROGRAM IS A
MULTIAGENCY PROGRAM WHICH
INCLUDES THREE U.S. AGENCIES
THAT ARE LISTED HERE ON THIS
SLIDE.
SO IT'S A WONDERFUL PROGRAM FOR
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NIH.
AND IT ALSO INCLUDES THE
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, AS WELL AS
NSF, AND THEN THERE ARE SIX
FOREIGN FUNDING AGENCIES.
IT REALLY IS -- IT AN
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM THAT
SUPPORTS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
AND DATA SHARING IN ADVANCING
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF NERVOUS
SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION,
DISTEM DISORDERS AND
COMPUTATIONAL STRATEGIES USED BY
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
IT TRULY FOSTERS SCIENCE AROUND
THE GLOBE THAT WAS VERY MUCH
NOTICEABLE IN THE RECENT CRCNS
MEETING WHICH TOOK PLACE IN
TEL AVIV WHICH WAS VERY
INSPIRING AND VERY EXCITING.
ANOTHER PROGRAM FROM THE NSF IS
INTEGRATIVE STRATEGIES FOR
UNDERSTANDING NEURAL AND
COGNITIVE SYSTEMS, SO THE NCS
PROGRAM WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS
THAT PROVIDE NEW EMPIRICAL
SCIENCE TO EXPAND THEORETICAL
UNDERSTANDING TO FACILITATE
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL AND
BIOENGINEERED SYSTEMS, PROMOTE
PROMOTE -- PROJECTS THAT OWE ROW
MOTOR NEW EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES
AND GENERATE NEW HIGH POTASSIUM
THESE THAT CONNECT PHYSICAL,
BIOLOGICAL AND COGNITIVE
MECHANISMS.
WHAT YOU CAN SEE HERE ON THE
SLIDE ARE THE EMPHASIS AREAS FOR
THAT PROGRAM.
MOST PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN
FUNDED SO FAR THROUGH THIS
PROGRAM SPEAK TO AT LEAST TWO OF
THE FOCUS AREAS, WITH
INDIVIDUALITY AND VARIATION, AS
WELL AS COGNITIVE AND NEURAL
PROCESSES IN COMPLEX
ENVIRONMENTS BEING THE MOST
COMMON FUNDED AREAS THAT THE
PROJECTS FOCUS ON BUT THEY'RE
NOT THE ONLY ONES.
THE PROGRAM HAS TWO TYPES OF
AWARDS.
THEY ARE FOUNDATIONAL AWARDS
THAT ARE SOMEWHAT SMALLER, VERY
MUCH FOCUSED ON HIGH RISK AND
POTENTIALLY HIGH PAYOFF, AND THE
FRONTIERS AWARDS ARE LARGER
AWARDS THAT INVOLVE MULTIPLE
COLLABORATORS FROM -- OFTEN FROM
DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS,
ACTUALLY ALL OF THE PROJECTS
INVOLVE MULTIPLE COLLABORATORS
FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES, AND
YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THIS IS A
CROSS NSF ACTIVITY INVOLVING
RESEARCHERS THAT ARE NORMALLY
SUPPORTED BY THE BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES, COMPUTER SCIENCES, AS
WELL AS SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL AND
ECONOMIC SCIENCES.
SO ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WAS
LAUNCHED UNDER THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE BY THE NSF IS THE
NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS FOR
NEUROSCIENCE, THE NEURONEX
PROGRAM.
IT WAS MOTIVATED OR IS MOTIVATED
BY THE GOAL OF SUPPORTING THE
DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE
ACCESSIBLE AND SHARED
CAPABILITIES AND RESOURCES
TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
COHERENT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH THE
VISION IS A CONNECTED PORTFOLIO
OF TRANSFORMATIVE, INTEGRATIVE
PROJECTS THAT CREATES
SYNERGISTIC LINKS ACROSS
INVESTIGATORS AND COMMUNITIES,
YIELDING NOVEL BASE OF TACKLING
THE CHALLENGES OF UNDERSTANDING
THE BRAIN IN AN ACTION CONTEXT.
THIS WAS A PHASED PROGRAM WHERE
THE PHASES WERE REALLY
CONCEPTUAL PHASES AND
PARTICIPATION PHASE TSH IS NOW A
REQUIREMENT IN PHASE 2.
THE GOAL OF THE FIRST PHASE IS
OR WAS TO SUPPORT THE
DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH RESOURCES
INSTRUMENTATION
NEUROTECHNOLOGIES, AND
THEORETICAL FRAME WORKS FOR
UNDERSTANDING BRAIN FUNCTION
ACROSS ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL
SCALES OF ANALYSIS.
AND/OR A WIDER RANGE OF SPECIES
INCLUDING HUMANS.
IT'S SUPPORTED MULTI-LAB TEAMS
SIMILAR TO THE SIZE U19 TEAMS,
AS WELL AS SMALLER PROJECTS.
REALLY THE EMPHASIS OF THAT
PHASE 1 WAS ON RESEARCH RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION,
AND THEN PHASE TWO, THE
OBJECTIVE OF PHASE TWO IS THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRIBUTED
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORKS
THAT BUILD ON EXISTING
INVESTMENTS IN NEUROTECHNOLOGIES
TO ADDRESS OVERARCHING QUESTIONS
AND NEUROSCIENCE QUESTIONS THAT
ARE SO LARGE, THEY REALLY CAN'T
BE ADDRESSED BY SMALL GROUPS
ONLY, BUT REQUIRE COLLABORATION
ACROSS DISCIPLINES, AND THE
PHASE TWO LEVERAGE THE
PARTICIPATION OF FOUR FOREIGN
FUNDING AGENCIES, SO ALL
PROJECTS IN PHASE 2 ARE
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS THAT
INVOLVE TEAMS AS LARGE AS 26
INVESTIGATORS, SO WE CAN LEARN
SOMETHING BY INTERNATIONAL TEAM
SCIENCE ON THESE PROJECTS.
ANOTHER ACTIVITY THAT MAY BE OF
INTEREST TO THIS AUDIENCE ARE
THE NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE INSTITUTES.
SO WE ALL ARE WITNESSING THAT AI
HAS ADVANCED TREMENDOUSLY, AND
TODAY PROMISES PERSONALIZED
HEALTHCARE, ADVANCED SECURITY,
IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION,
EFFECTIVE EDUCATION, LOTS OF
BENEFITS.
THERE'S GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE
THAT THE CONTINUED ADVANCEMENT
ENABLED BY SUSTAINED FEDERAL
INVESTMENT CHANNELED TOWARDS
ISSUES OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
HOLDS THE POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER
ECONOMIC IMPACT AND QUALITY OF
LIFE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND SO SO THIS IS LED BY NSF,
THESE NATIONAL AI INS TEURKTS WE
JUST CALL THEM AI INSTITUTES.
THE U.S.' LARGEST OR THE
NATION'S LARGEST AI RESEARCH
ECOSYSTEM AND REPRESENTS A
CORNERSTONE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING LONG
TERM FUNDAMENTAL REA SEARCH IN
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
THEY'RE FUNDED THROUGH
PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER FEDERAL
AGENCIES AND INDUSTRY LEADERS.
AS YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE LISTED
HERE ON THE SLIDE SO YOU CAN SEE
THEM.
SO FAR, 25 INSTITUTES HAVE BEEN
AWARDED AND YOU CAN SEE THEIR
DISTRIBUTION ON THE MAP HERE.
THE DOTS -- I THINK IT'S THE
BLUE DOTS -- ARE THE LEAD
ORGANIZATIONS.
OF PARTICULAR INTEREST FOR YOU
MAY BE THAT A RECENT AWARD IS A
CONSORTIUM OF NINE ORGANIZATIONS
LED BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ON
ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL
INTELLIGENCE.
IT USES INSIGHTS FROM
NEUROSCIENCE AND COGNITIVE
SCIENCE TO TACKLE THE
LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF
CURRENT MACHINE LEARNING SYSTEMS
SUCH AS LEARNING WITH -- DATA,
REASONING, CAUSALITY,
UNCERTAINTY AND LIFELONG
LEARNING.
SO IF TIME PERMITS, I'M JUST
GOING TO TELL BUT A FEW PROGRAMS
THAT COME OUT OF THE BASIC
SCIENCE DREACTS.
I MENTIONED EARLIER THE NSF CUTS
ACROSS THE DIFFERENT STEM
DISCIPLINES, SO SOME OF THE
BASIC SCIENCE DIRECTORATES
LISTED HERE ON THE SLIDE, AND I
JUST PICKED SOME PROGRAMS OR
CLUSTERS OF PROGRAMS THAT MAY BE
OF INTEREST TO THIS AUDIENCE
JUST TO GIVE YOU A FLAVOR OF HOW
BRAIN RESEARCH AND BRAIN-RELATED
RESEARCH IS FUNDED AT THE NSF.
SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THE FIRST TWO THAT I'M TALKING
ABOUT COME FROM THE BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES DIRECTORATE, SO WE HAVE
WHAT WE CALL BEHAVIOR SYSTEMS
CLUSTER, WHICH SUPPORTS BEHAVIOR
NOT JUST OF INDIVIDUALS BUT ALSO
OF -- SORRY, IT SUPPORTS
RESEARCH ON BEHALF YORL
INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS OF
INDIVIDUALS, NOT JUST FOCUSED
ON -- ORGANISM AT A TIME.
OF COURSE A NEURAL SYSTEMS
CULTURE WHERE THE MICROORGANISMS
ARE LOCATED.
THESE ARE SORT OF FUNDAMENTAL
PROGRAMS WITHIN THE
BIODIRECTORATE THAT ARE OF
INTEREST TO NEUROSCIENCE AND
HAVE HELPED STEWARD ACTUALLY
SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES UNDER THE
BRAIN INITIATIVE.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS
TIME ALSO TO POINT OUT THAT NIH
INVITED PROGRAM DIRECTORS TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE BRAIN
BEHAVIOR SYNCHRONIZATION AFTER
QUANTIFICATION, OR BBQS
WORKSHOPS, AND -- AN EXAMPLE OF
WHAT I CONSIDER A VERY VALUABLE
COLLABORATION ACROSS GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES.
SO TWO OTHER FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES OR PROGRAMS OUT OF
THE BIODIRECTORATE WORTH
MENTIONING ARE THE BIOLOGY
INTEGRATION INSTITUTES AND THEIR
FOCUS IS SUPPORTING LARGER
GROUPS OF RESEARCHERS THAT
REALLY SCAN ACROSS SCALES, GOING
FROM MOLECULAR TO, YOU KNOW, AS
LARGE AS POPULATION SCALE WITHIN
THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, WHICH
INCLUDES, OF COURSE,
NEUROSCIENCE, AND SO IF -- COULD
BE NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTES THAT
COVER ACROSS SCALES.
THE OTHER PROGRAM IS THE
INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH IN BIOLOGY,
WHICH IS EMBEDDED WITHIN EACH OF
OUR WHAT WE CALL CORE PROGRAMS
OR BASIC PROGRAMS.
THAT BRINGS TOGETHER RESEARCHERS
FROM SUBDISCIPLINES IN BIOLOGY
TO TACKLE A PROBLEM TOGETHER.
THE EXAMPLE OF INTEGRATIVE
RESEARCH IN BIOLOGY PROJECT
COULD BE -- JUST AN EXAMPLE, A
COLLABORATION BETWEEN MOLECULAR
AND CELLULAR NEUROSCIENTISTS AND
A POPULATION ECOLOGIST TO
EXAMINE THE INTERSECTION OF
NEUROBIOLOGY IN CHANGING AND --
SYSTEMS AS AN EXAMPLE, AND ONE
THAT'S HIGHLY -- TO OCCUR IN
CONCERNS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
SEW NSO NOW I'M GOING TO SWITCHO
OTHER DIRECTORATES.
THIS COMES FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE
AND ENGINEERING.
THE HUMAN CENTERED COMPUTING
SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN
HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION OR
INTERFACE, TAKEN BROADLY
INTEGRATING ACROSS DISCIPLINES
SUCH AS THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
SCIENCES, TO DESIGN NEW
COMPUTING SYSTEMS TO AMPLIFY
DIVERSE HUMAN PHYSICAL --
HUMANS' PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE AND
SOCIAL CAPABILITIES TO --
COLLECTIVE GOALS, BENEFITS,
EFFECTS AND RISKS OF COMPUTING
SYSTEMS AS WELL AS TO UNDERSTAND
HOW HUMAN AND CONTEXTUAL
ASPECTS -- TO INITIATE THOSE
EFFECTS.
THE ROBUST INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM
IS ANOTHER INTERESTING PROGRAM
THAT ENCOMPASSES COMPUTATIONAL
RESEARCH NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND
DEVELOPED SYSTEMS THAT CAN
SENSE, LEARN, REASON,
COMMUNICATE AND ACT IN THE
WORLD, EXHIBIT FLEXIBILITY,
RESOURCEFULNESS, CREATIVITY,
REALTIME RESPONSIVENESS AND LONG
TERM REFLECTION.
OR IT USES A VARIETY OF
REASONING APPROACHES AND
DEMONSTRATES CONFIDENCE IN
COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS AND
SOCIETAL CONTEXTS.
SO TW TWO PROGRAMS OUT OF
ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE I WANT
TO HIGHLIGHT HERE IS DISABILITY
AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS
FUNDAMENTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH
THAT WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF
LIFE OF PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES OVER THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
TECHNOLOGIES -- SOFTWARE,
COMBINED WITH ADVANCEMENT OF
KNOWLEDGE REGARDING THE HEALTHY
OR PATHOLOGICAL HUMAN MOTION FOR
ADVANCEMENT AND UNDERSTANDING OF
INJURY MECHANISMS.
A SECOND PROGRAM THAT'S ACTUALLY
A FAMILY OF PROGRAMS THAT COMES
OUT OF WHAT WE CALL THE EMERGING
FRONTIERS AND RESEARCH AND
INNOVATION PROGRAM, THAT PROGRAM
PROVIDES SUPPORT OR FUNDAMENTAL
DISCOVERY OF THE PRON 40 TEARS
OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH,
CATALYZING NEW
MULTI-INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
ON DIFFERENT TOPICS, TO ADDRESS
GRAND CHANG FOR NATURAL NEED.
REASON CALL THROUGH THE PROGRAM
INCLUDED THE BRAIN INSPIRED
DYNAMICS FOR ENGINEERING
ENERGY-EFFICIENT CIRCUITS AND
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
AND A FORTHCOMING CALL, SO STAY
TUNED FOR THAT CALL, IS FOCUSED
ON ENGINEERING ORGANOID
INTELLIGENCE.
SO I WANT TO TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT
SOME PROGRAMS OUT OF THE SOCIAL
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC SCIENCES
DIRECTORATE.
SO THE DIVISION OF COGNITIVE
SCIENCE -- DIVISION OF
BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE
SCIENCES WHICH SUPPORTS BASIC
RESEARCH IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL,
LINGUISTIC, ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND
GEOGRAPHIC SCIENCES HAS A NUMBER
OF PROGRAMS THAT IS PERTINENT
FOR THE BRAIN INITIATIVE,
INCLUDING THE COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM,
DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCES,
PERCEPTION, ACTION AND
COGNITION, AND SCIENCE OF
LEARNING AND AUGMENTED
INTELLIGENCE.
SO I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK OUT
THE WEBSITE AND PARTICULAR THAT
OF BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE
SCIENCES.
I ALSO ADDED TO THIS SLIDE BASED
ON THE VERY INTERESTING AND
ALWAYS ENLIGHTENING WORKSHOP ON
THE NEUROETHICS WORKING GROUP, A
PROGRAM THAT YOU CAN SEE AT THE
BOTTOM PART OF THE SLIDE, THAT'S
THE ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE
RESEARCH PROGRAM.
IT'S A PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS
PROJECTS THAT USE FUNDING
RESEARCH TO FIND OUT WHAT
CONSTITUTES AND PROMOTES
RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND HOW TO
BEST INSTILL THAT KNOWLEDGE INTO
RESEARCHERS, PRACTITIONERS AND
EDUCATORS AT ALL CAREER LEVELS.
SOME OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
THAT I THINK SPEAK TO THE
DISCUSSIONS OF YESTERDAY'S
MEETING ARE WHAT PRACTICES
CONTRIBUTE TO THE ESTABLISHMENT
AND MAINTENANCE OF ETHICAL
CULTURES, AND HOW CAN THESE
PRACTICES BE TRANSFERRED,
EXTENDED TO, INTEGRATED INTO
OTHER RESEARCH OF LEARNING
SETTINGS.
ANOTHER QUESTION IS WHAT ARE THE
ETHICAL ISSUES THAT PERVADE THE
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS, THEIR DATA AND
RESEARCHERS WHO GATHER AND
ANALYZE SUCH HUMAN SUBJECTS
DATA, HOW CAN RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS BE EMPOWERED TO USE
THESE RELATIONSHIP, AND WHAT ARE
THE DATA GOVERNANCE AND OTHER
ETHICS-RELATED ISSUES SHAPING
AND IMPACTING DATA USE IN STEM
AND HOW ARE THEY SUPPORTING,
DISRUPTING, AND CHALLENGING
RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH IN AN
EVER-BROADENING AND
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH
ENVIRONMENT.
SO WE ALSO HAVE THE DIRECTORATE
FOR MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL
SCIENCES, AND THERE ARE A NUMBER
OF PROGRAMS, AND REALLY IT'S
JUST A SNAPSHOT.
THERE IS THE MATHEMATICAL
BIOLOGY PROGRAM, THEY MUST
DEMONSTRATE MATHEMATICAL -- BY
STRONG INTEGRATION BETWEEN
MATHEMATICS AND BIOLOGY.
THE STATISTICS PROGRAM IS
RESEARCH IN STATISTICAL THEORY
AND METHODS INCLUDING RESEARCH
IN STATISTICAL METHODS WITH
APPLICATIONS IN ANY DOMAIN OF
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.
TWO PROGRAMS THAT INTERACT
ACTUALLY QUITE A LOT OR HAVE
REPEATEDLY INTERACTED WITH SOME
OF THE PROGRAMS WE LAUNCH UNDER
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE, THE
CHEMISTRY OF LIFE PROGRAM AND
THE PHYSICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS
PROGRAM.
THE KEM INDUSTRIAL OF LIFE
PROCESSES PROGRAM SUPPORTS
FUNDAMENTAL EXPERIMENTAL AND
COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES AT THE
INTERFACE OF CHEMISTRY AND
BIOLOGY, SUCH STUDY SHOULD
PROMOTE THE FUNDAMENTAL
UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR
UNDERPINNINGS OF LIFE PROCESSES
AND THE PHYSICS OF LIVING
SYSTEMS PROGRAM TARGETS SYNERGY
OF THEORETICAL RESEARCH,
EXPLORING THE FUNDAMENTAL
PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT LIVING
SYSTEMS UTILIZE TO PERFORM THEIR
FUNCTIONS IN DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE
ENVIRONMENTS.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE NEXT
SLIDE, I WANT TO JUST MENTION
THAT OUR STEM EDUCATION
DIRECTORATE THAT RECENTLY WAS
RENAMED TO STEM EDUCATION
DIRECTORATE, HAS A LARGE NUMBER
OF FUNDAMENTAL OR WHAT WE CALL
CORE RESEARCH PROGRAMS THAT
SUPPORT FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE GENERAL
EXPLANATORY KNOWLEDGE THAT
UNDERLIES STEM EDUCATION IN ONE
OR MORE OF THE THREE BROADLY
CONCEIVED RESEARCH AREAS.
RESEARCH ON LEARNING AND
LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, RESEARCH
ON BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN
STEM FIELDS.
I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT
BROADENING PARTICIPATION IS A
THEME THAT APPLIES ACROSS ALL
PROGRAMS IN THE NSF, AND FINALLY
RESEARCH ON STEM WORKFORCE
DEVELOP M.
I GUESS I SHOULD MENTION HERE,
YOU SHOULD NOTICE THAT SOME OF
THE PROGRAMS I MENTIONED EARLIER
THAT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IS
VERY MUCH ALSO INTERGRE INTEGRAN
MANY OF THE PROGRAMS IF NOT
ESSENTIALLY ALL PROGRAMS THAT
NSF LAUNCHES.
IF YOU SWITCH TO THE NEXT SLIDE,
I HAVE ONE MINUTE LEFT FOR
QUESTIONS.
>>THANKS, FLOH.
GREAT TO SEE ALL THAT YOU'RE
INVOLVED IN.
IT'S A LOT.
>>WELL, I'M NOT INVOLVED IN ALL
OF THIS, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE
AN OVERVIEW OF PROGRAMS THAT MAY
BE OF INTEREST.
>>AND ALSO VERY HAPPY TO BE
CONTINUING OUR VARIOUS
COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO
AGENCIES.
IT'S BEEN VERY PRODUCTIVE.
ANY QUESTIONS?
>>THIS IS BRYAN.
DO YOU EVER HAVE TO EXPLICITLY
DEAL WITH OPTIMIZING THE BALANCE
OF CURIOSITY-DRIVEN VERSUS SOME
OF THE APPLIED AREAS?
YOU MADE THE IMPORTANCE OF
CURIOSITY DRIVEN, AND AT THE
SAME TIME, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF
TRANSLATIONAL PROGRAMS THERE.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT?
>>GREAT QUESTION.
PART OF -- ONE ASPECT OF HOW WE
ARE MANAGING THIS IS TO HAVE
PROGRAMS THAT ARE FOCUSED REALLY
ON THE BASIC SCIENCES, SO MANY
OF THE PROGRAMS THAT I SPOKE
ABOUT IN THE SECOND HALF, IF YOU
WISH, WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL
DIRECTORATES ARE REALLY FOCUSED
ON THE CURIOSITY DRIVEN
DISCOVERY BASIC FOUNDATIONAL
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND
BUILDING, WHEREAS THE PROGRAMS
THAT COME OUT OF ENGINEERING,
THE ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE, NOT
SURPRISINGLY, AS WELL AS THE
COMPUTER INFORMATION SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING AND YOU AGAIN HAVE
ALREADY MORE APPLIED -- AS WELL
AS THE TIP DIRECTORATE, WHICH
ARE VERY EXPLICITLY FOCUSED ON
TRANSLATION.
AND WE ARE AWARE THAT WITH THE
PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PROGRAMS
SUCH AS THE CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATOR WHERE YOU PROVIDE
TRAINING AND YOU BRING TOGETHER
INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ALREADY
WORKING IN THE APPLIED FIELD,
THAT'S THE FOCUS, TO TAKE THE
INPUT, IS THAT BASIC SCIENCE
FROM THE OTHER PROGRAMS AND
TRANSLATE IT INTO SOMETHING THAT
HAS SOCIETAL IMPACT, BY THE TIME
THOSE PROJECTS REACH THEIR --
THE END OF THE LIFE OF THAT
PROJECT, THERE MAY BE MORE
ASSISTANCE NEEDED, THERE STILL
IS THIS GAP BETWEEN THE BASIC
SCIENCE AND FULL BLOWN
APPLICATION.
WE HAVE -- BY BEING IN ONE
BUILDING WHICH IS REALLY VERY
NICE, WE INTERACT WITH ONE
ANOTHER A LOT, SO PART OF THE
BRIDGING HAPPENS THROUGH
INTERACTIONS WITH THE PROGRAM
DIRECTORS AND RUNNING THESE
PROGRAMS TOGETHER.
>>THANK YOU.
>>TED?
>>HI, FLOH.
HI, EVERYONE.
THANKS FOR A VERY INTERESTING
PRESENTATION.
I'M ALSO REALLY GRATEFUL FOR
NSF'S IMPACT.
IN PARTICULAR, I'M STRUCK BY THE
IMPACT IN THE PROGRAM IN
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND
COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE.
THAT REALLY IS A TERRIFIC TRANS
GOVERNMENTAL -- U.S. GOVERNMENT
TALL AGENCY, AND ALSO WORLDWIDE
COLLABORATION, WHICH IS JUST, I
THINK, REALLY TREMENDOUSLY
IMPACTFUL.
AND NSF HAS REALLY HAD A
PRESENCE IN COMPUTATIONAL
NEUROSCIENCE ALMOST FROM THE
BEGINNING, 25 YEARS, 30 YEARS
AGO.
ONE COMMENT ON THAT IS THINKING
ABOUT THINGS ALSO AT THE
MOLECULAR LEVEL.
A LOT OF THE COMPUTATIONAL WORK
KIND OF GETS TO THE
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL LEVEL.
AND I THINK THAT WE ALSO -- IT'S
GENES THAT ACTUALLY ENCODE THOSE
PROTEINS THAT REA SP RESPOND ATE
SYNAPSES AND ION CHANNELS AND
DETERMINE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY.
THAT'S ONE THING KIND OF AS A
COMMENT TO REALLY CONSIDER, IS
THE IMPORTANCE OF REALLY
MOLECULAR MODELING.
NOW THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF THE
PLAYERS FROM ALL OF THE SINGLE
CELL GENE EXPRESSION WORK THAT
UNDERSTANDING HOW THEY RELATE,
IT'S GOING TO BE VERY COMPLEX,
JUST TALK TO EVE MARTER, THE
MATH IS GOING TO BE VERY
COMPLEX.
BUT I THINK IT'S EXCITING.
SO THANKS, IT'S REALLY JUST A
THANK YOU TO NSF FOR THAT
TREMENDOUS PROGRAM.
I HAD A QUESTION AND I THINK
MAYBE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ONE OF
THE PROGRAMS THAT KIND OF WENT
BY ON THE SLIDE, AND THAT WAS
THE DISABILITY AND ENGINEERING
PROGRAM, I FORGET THE EXACT
TITLE OF IT THAT YOU MENTIONED,
WITH WHERE YOU THINK ABOUT
ENGINEERING APPROACHES TO HELP
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES IS
HOW I HEARD IT.
YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING TO
THINK ABOUT THAT WHEN WE THINK
ABOUT THE NEUROETHICS WORKING
GROUP, WE THINK ABOUT
NEUROETHICISTS AND THEM BEING IN
GROUPS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN
THESE BRAIN -- PROJECTS
ESPECIALLY THOSE IN HUMAN
SUBJECTS AND ESPECIALLY THOSE IN
PATIENTS IN THE O.R.,
NEUROSURGICAL PATIENTS, BUT THAT
REALLY INTERSECTS WITH
DISABILITY.
AND WITH DISABILITY STUDIES AND
THAT'S SOMETHING I THINK WOULD
BE INTERESTING TO POTENTIALLY
EXPLORE, IS SORT OF THE
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THAT
DISABILITY ENGINEERING GROUP AND
MANY OF THE NEUROETHICS
INITIATIVES THAT I THINK BEGIN
TO OVERLAP AND MAY HELP INFORM
EACH OTHER AND GIVE PEOPLE NEW
PERSPECTIVES ON WHAT IT IS IN
PERSPECTIVE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES AND THESE NEW
FINDINGS THAT WERE HAVING FROM
THE BRAIN SCIENCE.
>>IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU
RAISE THAT POINT, BECAUSE THERE
IS A LOT OF CONVERSATION ABOUT
THAT INTERSECTION WITHIN THE
HALLS OF NSF, AND TO BRING NOT
JUST ACTUALLY WITH RESPECT TO
DISABILITIES, BUT ALSO HAVING
MEMBERS OF THAT COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATE, ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS
IN THE RESEARCH.
SO IT'S NOT JUST ONE GROUP DOING
SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER GROUP, BUT
REALLY HAVE PRACTITIONERS AND
THOSE WHO ARE SUBJECT OF THE
STUDIES BE PART OF THOSE WHO ARE
DESIGNERS OF THE STUDIES.
>>AND ALSO ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS
IN THE DISCUSSIONS THAT WE HAVE,
I THINK, TOO.
>>RIGHT.
>>IN FORUMS LIKE THIS.
>>I MENTIONED ETHICAL AND
RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH PROGRAM
THAT COMES OUT OF -- NOT OUT OF
ENGINEERING BUT THE SOCIAL
BEHAVIORAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES
DIRECTORATE, IT'S A
CROSS-DIRECTORATE ACTIVITY
INVOLVING ALSO REPRESENTATIVES
FROM ENGINEERING, AS WELL AS
FROM DISABILITIES THAT DISCUSS
ALSO OF COURSE THE EDUCATION
DIRECTORATE, SO REALLY IT
INTERSECTS WITH ALL OF THE
DIRECTORATES, AND IT'S PART IF
YOU HAVE THE CONVERSATION OF
DIVERSITY, THE DEI CONVERSATION.
>>YES, THANK YOU.
>>THANK YOU.
>>I THINK WE SHOULD BE MOVING
ON.
THANKS VERY MUCH, FLOH.
DR. WANG, DO YOU WANT TO DO
PRESENTATION ON THIS NEW CONCEPT
FOR BRAIN?
>>YES.
CAN YOU HEAR ME ALL RIGHT?
>>YES.
>>LOOKS GOOD.
SOUNDS GOOD, LOOKS GOOD.
>>GREAT.
GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.
I'M HERE TO PRESENT A NEW
CONCEPT JOINTLY PROPOSED BY
BRAIN INITIATIVE TEAM C & A.
THE TITLE IS TRANSFORMATIVE
DISCOVERY TO RESOLVE THE
HETEROGENEITY OF BRAIN CELLS
THROUGH NONINVASIVE IMAGING.
FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO GIVE
BIG THANKS TO THE TASK FORCE.
I GREATLY APPRECIATE THEIR
EXPERTISE, ENTHUSIASM AND THEIR
DEVOTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THIS CONCEPT.
SO THE BRAIN INITIATIVE ALLOWS
THE BICCN PROGRAM FIRST PHASE,
WHICH SUCCESSFULLY CLASSIFIED
BRAIN CELLS AT THE LEVEL OF
GRANULARITY AS NEVER BEFORE,
MAPPING CELL TYPES ACROSS
DIFFERENT SPECIES.
THIS COULD SERVE AS A FOUNDATION
OF CELL-BASED NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH IN THE FUTURE.
MEANWHILE, THESE PROGRAMS
HEAVILY RELY ON SINGLE CELL
ENVIRONMENT TO TRANSLATE THE
CELLS KNOWLEDGE INTO THE SPACE
OF CLINICAL AND NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH.
IT WILL BE CRITICALLY BENEFICIAL
TO DEVELOP CORRESPONDING
NONINVASIVE IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES
THAT COULD HELP IDENTIFY,
LOCALIZE AND CHARACTERIZE THE
STATE OF DIFFERENT CELLS IN
VIVO, WHICH IS THE -- GOAL OF
THIS CONCEPT.
NOT ONLY PAVING WAIT TOWARDS NEW
RESEARCH PARADIGMS, FOR EXAMPLE,
TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SPECIFIC CELL TYPES IN FUNCTION
OR DYSFUNCTION BUT ALSO
FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF
QUANTITATIVE IMAGING BIOMARKERS
FOR DIAGNOSIS, PROGNOSIS, AND
TREATMENT OF BRAIN DISORDERS.
SO ON THE GENE-BASED THERAPY IS
RAPIDLY GROWING AS EXAMPLE SHOWN
RELEASED IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR,
GENE THERAPIES HAVE BEEN
APPROVED BY FDA FOR HUMAN USE.
WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THEIR
APPLICATION TO NEUROLOGICAL AND
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDER WILL
BE CATALYZED BY BRAIN CELL --
AND FACILITATED BY THIS CONCEPT.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
BEFORE DIVING INTO DETAIL, I
WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE A BRIEF
SURVEY TO SEE WHERE CHALLENGES
ARE.
THIS SLIDE SHOWS DIFFERENT CELL
CENSUS APPROACHES.
THESE CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO
FOUR CATEGORIES, THESE ARE
MOLECULAR, ANATOMIC, FUNCTIONAL
AND PHYSIOLOGICAL.
ALL ARE SINGLE CELL-BASED EX
VIVO.
AMONG THEM, MOLECULAR AND
ANATOMICAL INFORMATION --.
IN THIS PAPER PUBLISHED BY
DR. ZENG IN 2022, SHE PROVIDED A
DETAILED EXAMPLE OF HOW CELL --
MOTOR CORTEX WERE CLASSIFIED
INTO ABOUT 110 DIFFERENT TYPES,
USING A HIERARCHICAL,
MULTILEVEL, MULTI-PARAMETRIC
APPROACH.
FIRST CELLS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO
CATEGORIES, NEURONAL AND
NON-NEURONAL CELLS.
SECOND, NEURONAL CELLS ARE
DIVIDED INTO TWO SUBCATEGORIES.
THIRD -- CELLS WERE DIVIDED INTO
FURTHER SUB-SUBCATEGORIES,
LONG-RANGE PROJECTION PATTERN TO
OTHER PARTS OF THE BRAIN OR SO
CALLED CONNE CONNECTOMICS.
FINALLY DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT
TYPES.
AMONG THIS DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENT -- IS THE MOST
WIDELY USED.
THIS SLIDE SHOWS WHAT ALL IS
GOING ON IN THE NONINVASIVE
IMAGING WORLD.
IMAGING SPECIFIC TYPE OF CELLS
BELONGS TO THE MOLECULAR IMAGING
DOMAIN, WHEREAS MOST WIDELY USED
APPROACH IS NUCLEAR IMAGING,
INCLUDING BOTH PET AND SPECT.
THE MAJORITY OF SPECIFIC
CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS, ALSO CALLED
TRACER IMAGING PROBES THAT BOND
TO -- SURFACE TARGETS.
AS -- SHOWS MOST RESEARCH
TARGETED THE -- SYSTEM -- LARGE
PROTEIN AGGREGATIONS.
IN ADDITION, THEY ARE -- FOR
METABOLIC AND PERFUSION IMAGING.
-- MOST POPULAR IN CLINICAL
PRACTICE.
NUCLEAR IMAGING IS DOMINATED
APPROACH TO HIGHEST SENSITIVITY
BUT THIS OTHER MODALITY CAN ALSO
BE APPLIED WITH COMPLEMENTARY
BENEFITS.
FOR EXAMPLE, A SPECIAL MR
TECHNOLOGY CALLED CHEMICAL
SATURATION TRANSFER IS --
SPECIFIC INFORMATION FROM
SIGNALS OF WHAT WERE HER
MOLECULES.
THIS ENDOGENOUS FEATURE DOES NOT
REQUIRE INJECTION OF CHEMICAL
COMPOUNDS OR LIGANDS, SO THIS
LIST OF DIFFERENT -- MODALITY
COULD BE POTENTIALLY LEVERAGED
TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF THIS
CONCEPT.
WHERE RECENTLY, THERE WAS A
TREND IN THE NONINVASIVE IMAGING
COMMUNITY TO STUDY THE --
SPECIFIC CELL TYPES IN BRAIN
FUNCTION.
THE PAPER ILLUSTRATES A
TYPICAL -- APPROACH.
IT STARTS WITH NEUROIMAGING
SHOWING FEATURES OF THE --
FUNCTION.
-- OF DIFFERENT MARKER GENES.
SO MARKER GENE THAT -- THE MOST
AND THE CELL TYPES THAT EXPRESS
IT ARE SAID TO BE RESPONSIBLE
FOR -- FUNCTION.
THIS DEMONSTRATES INCREASING
INTEREST OF -- ENROLLMENT OF
SPECIFIC CELL TYPES IN --
FUNCTION.
HOWEVER, THIS CORRELATIONAL
APPROACH IS -- CONCLUSIONS CAN
BE DRAWN FROM IT ARE RATHER
INCONCLUSIVE.
MEANINGFUL FIRST STEPS WOULD BE
AN AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT THAT
INFORMATION PRESENTED IN
IMAGE -- COMES FROM A DEFINITE
CELL TYPE OR SUBTYPE WHICH IS --
OF THIS CONCEPT.
SO EXAMPLE OF CLINICAL
APPLICATION OF MOLECULAR
IMAGING.
TYPICALLY -- IMAGING-BASED
METRICS TO QUANTIFY THE CHANGING
LEVELS OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF
THE -- CELL CATEGORY.
IN THIS CASE -- TO SUMMARIZE THE
UPTAKE VALUE IN PET TO EVALUATE
AND TREAT EFFICACY OF -- TOXIC G
LYMPHOCYTES OF -- THERAPY OF
GLIOBLASTOMA.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT IN
THE LITERATURE, MOST OF SUCH
STUDIES -- OF THIS CONCEPT -- TO
THE BRAIN.
BASED ON -- MAJOR GAPS MOLECULAR
IMAGING ARE CONCLUDED IN THIS
SLIDE.
FIRST THERE IS A DIMENSIONALITY
DIFFERENCE.
SINCE THIS IS
MULTI-PARAMETRIC -- IN DIFFERENT
CATEGORY, SUCH AS
TRANSCRIPTOMICS, PROTEIN
OMICS -- AND CONNECTOMICS -- ONE
SPECIFIC SURFACE PROTEIN AS A
TARGET.
SECOND, IN MOLECULAR IMAGING --
MORE DIFFERENT TYPE OF BRAIN
CELLS.
HARD TO PARSE OUT INFORMATION TO
TELL ONE SPECIFIC TYPE, SUBTYPE
OR CATEGORY FROM ANY OTHERS,
IT'S A CHALLENGE.
IN CONTRAST TO SINGLE CELL-BASED
APPROACHES, WHERE DID TH -- COUD
HAVE COME FROM?
THIRD, THERE'S AN ACCESS ISSUE.
THE DOMINATING MOLECULAR
PATHOLOGY REQUIRE -- AND BINDING
OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS.
TO SURFACE A PROTEIN TARGET.
THE -- CROSSING THE BLOOD BRAIN
BARRIER, OR BBB, FREQUENTLY
BECOMES A CONCERN ESPECIALLY IN
THE CONTEXT OF THIS CONCEPT TO
THE SO-CALLED REPORTER GENE
IMAGING.
TO MEET THESE CHALLENGES, WE
PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING STRATEGY.
FIRST, STRONGLY ENCOURAGE
RESEARCHERS WHO WANT CELL --
DATA OR PRIORITIZING TARGETED
CELL TYPES COULD HAVE A
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON
NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH OR
CLINICAL TRANSLATION.
ONCE THE CURRENT TARGET IS
IDENTIFIED AND ASSOCIATED
IDENTIFIERS ARE ESTABLISHED BY
THE CELL CENSUS GAP, WE FURTHER
ENCOURAGE -- TO CONSIDER THE
FOLLOWING ACTIONS IN THEIR
APPROACH.
THE FIRST IMAGE ACQUISITION,
BEING ENCOURAGED MULTIPLEX
NONINVASIVE ACQUISITION OF
DIFFERENT FEATURES THAT COULD
EMULATE MULTI-PARAMETRIC SICKLE
CELL -- FEATURES CAN BE
IDENTIFIED AND ASSOCIATED WITH
SINGLE CELL CLASSIFIER.
SERVE AS MY CROSS BY LEVEL CELL
TYPE PACIFIERS.
THEREFORE -- ACQUISITION MAY --
THE SECOND IS ON INFORMATION
RECONSTRUCTION.
WE ENCOURAGE DEVELOPMENT AND
APPLICATION OF OTHER ONES TO
CONFUSIONAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT
COULD FOE SILL TATE THE MODALITY
AND RECONSTRUCTION AND THE --
IMMIGRATION OF MULTIFACET
INFORMATION TO PROVIDE A CLEARER
PICTURE OF CELL TYPE OR SUBTYPE.
USING ONE MODALITY TO FACILITATE
CONSTRUCTION OF ANOTHER HAS BEEN
EXPLORED IN NONINVASIVE IMAGING.
FOR EXAMPLE, STRUCTURAL MR
IMAGES AS A -- TO UTILIZE EEG --
WE BELIEVE SIMILAR APPROACHES
AND THE POTENTIALLY MORE
SOPHISTICATED ONES COULD BE MORE
BENEFICIAL TO ENHANCING CELLS
SPECIFICALLY UNDER -- ACCURACY.
THE THIRD IS SPECIFIC TO,
ENCOURAGE AND USE -- TECHNIQUES
TO SUPPLEMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE, MR-BASED
ENDOGENOUS --, FOR INSTANCE,
USING ULTRASOUND TO OPEN -- WE
BELIEVE DIFFERENT OPTIONS WITH
VARYING DEGREES OF -- EXIST.
THESE COULD BE HARNESSED
INDIVIDUALLY OR COLLECTIVELY TO
MITIGATE THIS ISSUE.
WITH SIGNIFICANT -- TO SHOOT AT
FIRST PLACE AND SOUND
DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES, WE HOPE
THAT THE OUTCOME OF THIS EFFORT
WOULD HELP ANSWER IMPORTANT
QUESTIONS.
FIRST, WHAT -- IMAGING FUTURES
OR THEIR COMBINATION COULD BE
UTILIZED NECK CLIFF WILL TO
IDENTIFY CELL TYPE -- SECOND,
HOW TO INTEGRATE A MULTIFACET
INFORMATION TO PROVIDE A PROVIDE
CROWSCOPIC -- AND LOCALIZATION.
THIRD, ALL SINGLE CELL
CLASSIFIERS CAN BE EXPLORED TO A
GREAT EXTENT AT THE MICROSCOPIC
LEVEL.
FOR EXAMPLE, MORPHOLOGY, THERE
WILL BE A LIMITATION.
TO THIS END, WE WOULD LIKE TO
KNOW TO WHICH EXTENT CELL TYPES
HAVE BEEN -- CLASSES OR
SUBCLASSES, CATEGORY
SUBCATEGORY, WE DON'T KNOW, BUT
WE WANT TO FIND OUT.
BECAUSE OF THESE QUESTIONS AND
UNKNOWNS, THIS CONCEPT IS
EXPLORATORY IN NATURE.
NEXT I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH
SOME RECENT PUBLICATION TO SHOW
TO OTHER POTENTIALLY LEVERAGED
THROUGH MITIGATED RISK.
THIS SLIDE IS ABOUT CELL -- THIS
IS A PAPER RECENTLY PUBLISHED.
THE GROUP IDENTIFIED A CELL
SUBTYPE THAT IS UPREGULATED NEW
PATIENTS' HIGHLY -- PARKINSON'S
DISEASE.
IT IS CHARACTERIZED ON THREE
ASPECTS.
FIRST, IT'S -- SECOND, IT -- IS
DEEP BRAIN NUCLEASE.
THIRD, IT IS MARKED AS
EXPRESSION OF THE -- AS TO -- SO
THIS DEMONSTRATES -- TO NOMINATE
ON THE -- PRIORITIZE -- CELL
TYPES WITH SIGNIFICANT
TRANSLATIONAL OR NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH --.
IT FURTHER DEMONSTRATE SINGLE
CELL CLASSIFIER, THE NONINVASIVE
IMAGING COULD TARGET.
THOSE ARE NEUROCHEMISTRY AND
ANATOMY AND -- IN THIS EXAMPLE.
BECAUSE -- IS THE MOST WIDELY
USED IN CELL CENSUS, ONE MAY
WONDER HOW MANY DIFFERENT TYPE
OF GENE ARE EXPECTED.
THE TASK COULD BE DONE IF --
NEED TO GET -- THE PAPER TO THE
RIGHT PUBLISHED BY THE SAME
RESEARCH GROUP, WE PROVIDED
SOME -- SO I CERTIFIED THAT.
-- THE DIFFERENT TYPE OF CELLS,
MORE THAN 90% OF THE MAJOR BRAIN
COMPARTMENTS CAN BE UNIQUELY
IDENTIFIED BY UP TO THREE MARKER
GENES IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ANATOMICAL INFORMATION.
THIS INDICATES THAT IN MOST
CASES, THE -- OF THE
TRANSCRIPTOMICS SPACE IS
ABOUT -- WHICH IS NOT LARGE.
HOWEVER, THE COMPLEXITY --
SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATING.
THIS SLIDE SHOWS SOME
INTERESTING APPROACHES ON
MOLECULAR IMAGING SIDE.
AS WE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED --
THE MOST WIDELY USED, WHILE
MOLECULAR IMAGING MOSTLY TARGETS
SURFACE PROTEIN.
HOW TO RANGE THE GAP.
IT'S A TWO-STEP -- APPROACH.
FIRST THE CELLS THAT ARE
EXPRESSED UNDER THE -- ARE
TARGETED BY VERY OFTEN, WITH A
PAYLOAD THAT INTRODUCES A
PROTEIN OF ENZYME EXPRESSION ON
CELL CIRCUITS.
THIS PENALTY IS CALLED A
REPORTER -- AND CALLED THE
REPORTER PROBE.
SECOND AND VERY TYPICALLY,
IMAGING PROBE IS ADIFFERENT TYPE
OF PROBE.
FOR EXAMPLE, I LIKEN THAT TO
ROART PROBE ARE INJECTED.
-- FOR IMAGING PRO INFORMS
LOCATION OF -- GENE TARGET AND
THE CELL TYPE THAT EXPRESS IT.
SO THE PAPER AT THE LEFT SHOWS
HOW THIS APPROACH IN PROTEIN
IMAGING IS APPLIED IN PET.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE REPORTER
GENE INTRODUCED IN MULTIVALENT
REPORTER PROBE THAT BINDS TO --
AND IS ALSO EGFP.
THIS FEATURE COULD BE VERY
HELPFUL TO THIS CONCEPT FROM --
OF TARGETING ENGAGEMENT.
THE PAPER SHOWS -- WHICH DOES
NOT REQUIRE -- OF LARGE CHEMICAL
COMPOUNDS THAT COULD CAUSE
HEAVY-DUTY CROSSING OF TOXICITY
CHALLENGES.
SO ULCERS DEVELOP A MORE COLORED
APPROACH, SO THE REPORTER PROBE
INDUCED -- IS -- THEREFORE, ONE
CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY ACQUIRE
INFORMATION -- TO TWO DIFFERENT
TYPE OF GENES.
THIS MULTIPATH APPROACH MAY
OFFER SOLUTION IN CASE THAT TWO
OR MORE MARKER GENES -- AS THE
PRE -- SLIDE INDICATES.
THIS SLIDE, THE FEDERALIST --
DEMONSTRATE SOME ULTRASOUND
BASED APPROACHES.
ULTRASOUND BASED -- FIRST
DEMONSTRATED PITFALL IN HUMAN IN
2019, FOUR YEARS AGO, AND IS
RAPIDLY PROGRESSED TO MANY BRAIN
TARGETTERS.
FOR EXAMPLE THE PAPER TO THE
RIGHT DEMONSTRATE DEEP BRAIN
TARGETING CAPACITY.
SO IN ADDITION TO -- OTHER
APPROACHES ALSO EXIST TO
CIRCUMVENT OR BECOME A BBB
CROSSING ISSUE.
ALL THESE APPROACHES COULD BE
LEVERAGED TO MITIGATE -- RISK IF
IT EXISTS.
SO THIS SLIDE FURTHER LISTS ARE
EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THE RESEARCH
ACTIVITIES THAT COULD BENEFIT
FROM THIS CONCEPT.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATION -- NOT
LISTED HERE OR THIS LONG LIST I
WANT TO ESPECIALLY EMPHASIZE THE
FIRST ONE, WHICH IS TO MINE THE
CELL CENSUS DATA FOR TARGET
NOMINATION WHICH EFFORT WOULD
MAKE THE MOST SENSE ONLY IF
THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT -- AT THE
FIRST PLACE.
SO MOLEDULAR IMAGING IS A LRNLG
FIELD.
HERE WE PROVIDE THE GUIDELINES
TO SHARPLY FOCUS -- ACTIVITY --
NONINVASIVE IMAGING RESULT.
-- LOCATION ACCURACY.
INCLUDING DISEASE MODEL IS
ALLOWED AND ACTUALLY QUITE
COMMON IN NONINVASIVE IMAGING
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.
BY PUTTING IT ON THEIR -- LIGHT
IN A CONTEXT IS RELEVANT TO THIS
CONCEPT IS NOT ALLOWED.
SO WITH THIS, I'D LIKE TO STOP
MY PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION,
AND I WELCOME IF YOU HAVE ANY
COMMENT OR QUESTIONS.
>>WE HAVE TWO DISCUSSANTS.
BRUCE, DO YOU WANT TO GO FIRST,
SINCE YOU ARE UNMUTED?
>>I THINK I'M UNMUTED.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME?
>>YES.
>>GREAT, GREAT.
SO I'LL START SO AS NOT TO BURY
MY LEAD, I THINK THIS IS A VERY
EXCITING PROPOSAL, AND I'M VERY
ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE POTENTIAL
ALONG EXACTLY THE LINES AND
DIMENSIONS THAT SHUMIN SO NICELY
LAID OUT.
MY VIEW IS THAT PEOPLE ARE
ALREADY BEGINNING TO, YOU KNOW,
MINE THE CELL CENSUS DATA AND
THINK ABOUTITY APPLICATIONS,
SPECIFICALLY FOR TARGET
DEVELOPMENT.
JACOB, FOR EXAMPLE, RECENTLY
PUBLISHED A PAPER LOOKING FOR
TARGETS FOR MICROGLIAL ACTIVITY,
SPECIFICALLY IN HIS CASE IN THE
CONTEXT OF MICROGLIA ACTIVITY
UPREGULATED IN THE CONTEXT OF
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, BUT HE
STARTED WITH CLOSE TO 500 GENES,
AND THROUGH GENOMIC TRANSCRIPT
OMIC AND PROTEOMIC ANALYSIS,
BASICALLY BROUGHT THAT DOWN TO
19 POTENTIAL TARGETS.
THE KEY, OFTEN, IS TO, YOU KNOW,
COME UP WITH OBJECTIVE CRITERIA
FOR TARGET PRIORITIZATION.
INTERESTINGLY IN HIS CASE,
DRUGGABILITY OF A TARGET WAS
PART OF THAT CRITERIA, AND EVEN
WITH THAT AS A CRITERIA, THEY
STILL WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH
CLOSE TO 20 POTENTIAL TARGETS TO
DEVELOP.
SO IT CERTAINLY SHOWS THE
UTILITY AND THE CAPABILITY OF
MINING THE CELL CENSUS DATA TO
COME UP WITH THE KIND OF NUMBERS
YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE TO
ACTUALLY DEVELOP AN OVERALL
PROGRAM.
I THINK THERE WERE A COUPLE
IDEAS THAT MAY BE WORTH KIND OF
HIGHLIGHTING AS WE THINK ABOUT
ELEMENTS THAT WOULD BE
CONSIDERED RESPONSIVE TO THIS
RFA.
CERTAINLY THE MEASUREMENT NOT
JUST AT BASELINE LEVELS BUT
MEASURING CHANGES IN EXPRESSION,
FOR EXAMPLE, CHANGES IN RESPONSE
TO BEHAVIORAL STIMULI OR OVER
THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT, I
THINK WOULD BE ONE DOUGH MANY
WHICH IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE TO
BE FOCUSED ON.
MEASURING THE FUNCTIONAL STATES
OF SYSTEMS, IN OTHER WORDS, TO
TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE LINKAGE
BETWEEN TRANSCRIPTS AND
FUNCTIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THAINGS MAY ALLOW
US TO DIRECTLY MEASURE REACCEPTR
INTERNALIZATION RATES FOR CELL
TYPE ARE AN IMPORTANT TYPE OF
TARGETS AND ALSO CONSIDERED IN
THIS RESPONSIVE CATEGORY.
I THINK ANOTHER DOMAIN CERTAINLY
WHICH WOULD BE EXPLORATORY BUT
SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAVE A
TREMENDOUS IMPACT IN THE LONG
RUN WOULD BE ADVANCES IN
SECONDARY DETECTION STRATEGIES.
IN OTHER WORDS, TO TRY TO
MITIGATE THE SLOW KINETICS OF
THINGS LIKE ANTIBODIES, YOU
WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP
SUBSEQUENT MEASURES THAT COULD
DETECT THE BINDING OF THOSE MORE
EFFICIENTLY, WHICH WOULD
POTENTIALLY REDUCE OR EVEN ON
VEEOBVIATE THE NEED -- BECAUSE
THOSE SECONDARY TARGETS COULD BE
DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY WITH PRO
BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER -- IN MIND.
-- TO THIS DETECTION STRATEGY,
ONE, IT MIGHT ALLOW YOU TO
DEVELOP MODULARITY OF DETECTION.
IF WE COULD COME UP WITH A
SINGLE MODULE, YOU COULD THEN
HAVE MULTIPLE DIFFERENT READOUTS
ALL WITH A SINGLE MODULAR
DETECTION STRATEGY.
AMPLIFICATION STRATEGIES THAT
WOULD REALLY ALLOW YOU TO KIND
OF DEAL WITH WHAT IS PROBABLY
THE MOST CHALLENGE ELEMENT OF
THIS, WHICH IS JUST THE LOW
TARGET DENSITY OF MANY OF THE
TARGET WE'D WANT TO LOOK AT, SO
I THINK HAVING SECONDARY
DETECTION STRATEGIES THAT COULD
ALLOW US TO AMPLIFY OUR SIGNALS
THE WAY WE DO IN IN VITRO
STUDIES COULD BE VERY IMPORTANT,
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, USE THE
ANTIBODY, NANOBODIES FOR SMALL
MOLECULE DEVELOPMENT WHICH WOULD
ALLOW US TO BE FOCUSED REALLY ON
A PLATFORM PERSPECTIVE AND
THEY'D ALSO BE VERY IMPORTANT
FOR THIS SECONDARY DETECTION
STRATEGIES.
AND THEN MAYBE SOME QUESTIONS
FOR THE PROGRAM TEAM OR THIS
GROUP TO CONSIDER.
YOU KNOW, WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE
ROLES FOR THE DIFFERENT
PRE-CLINICAL STUDIES?
CLEARLY, TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAY
NOT BE READY FOR HUMANS BUT AT
LEAST HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR
TRANSLATION TO HUMANS.
I THINK AT LEAST IN MY OWN MIND
HAVE THE GREATEST -- HAVE AN
IMPORTANT PRIORITY, SO MAYBE
FOUR STUDIES NOT QUITE READY FOR
HUMANS, SOME EFFORT TO SEE THAT
INVESTIGATORS ARE THINKING ABOUT
WHAT THE POSSIBILITIES ARE OF
HUMANS, THINKING ABOUT WHEN WE
WANT TO DO PRE-CLINICAL STUDIES
IN TTHIS SETTING WHEN WE HAVE ME
INVASIVE METHODS THAT WORK VERY
WELL, SO FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT OF
THE ROLES FOR DEVELOPING TOOLS
THAT ARE REALLY DESIGNED FOR,
SAY, MOUSE STUDIES, YOU KNOW, DO
WE CONSIDER LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
TO BE RESPONSIVE IN RODENTS, OR
ARE WE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING A
LITTLE CLOSER TOWARD WHAT COULD
BE TRANSLATED.
AND THEN MAYBE THE FINAL
QUESTION, I WAS VERY EXCITED TO
SEE THE DISCUSSION OF BLOOD
BRAIN BARRIER OPENING, BUT ONE
COULD CERTAINLY IMAGINE THAT
TECHNIQUES, FOR EXAMPLE,
TARGETING BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER
OPENING, YOU KNOW, WHILE KIND OF
CRITICAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
ARE SOMEWHAT DISTINCT FROM
FINDING THE TARGETS THEMSELVES,
AND ONE COULD POTENTIALLY
CONSIDER JUST TARGETING BLOOD
BRAIN BARRIER OPENING AS AN
EXAMPLE AS KIND OF THEIR OWN
THING, BUT YOU KNOW, I THINK
IT'S A QUESTION WORTH HAVING
SOME DISCUSSION ON IS WHETHER
THINGS JUST TARGETING BLOOD
BRAIN BARRIER OPENING WOULD BE
CONSIDERING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF
THIS RFA OR WOULD BE KIND OF A
COMPONENT WHEN THERE'S A CLEAR
TARGET THAT THE OPENING OF THE
BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER WOULD BE
ENABLING FOR.
SO THAT'S JUST SOME THOUGHTS
I'VE HAD.
I KNOW BRI BRYAN HAS GOT SOME
THOUGHTS OF HIS OWN.
>> -- ALL YOU SAID AND I'LL
TAKE THESE BACK TO THE TASK
FORCE AND HOPEFULLY THEY CAN
FLESH IT OUT IN FUTURE
ENDEAVORS.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>>OF COURSE.
AND VERY EXCITING.
>>THANK YOU.
>>SO I GUESS I HAVE A COUPLE
SORT OF FOCUSED QUESTIONS HERE.
THE FIRST IS WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY
NONINVASIVE.
SO THAT WAS NOT CLEAR TO ME,
BECAUSE TO ME, IF YOU'RE
INJECTING AAB INTO THE BRAIN,
THAT'S INVASIVE.
THAT'S NOT A NONINVASIVE
APPROACH.
>>OKAY.
>>I GUESS PERIPHERAL
ADMINISTRATION THROUGH, YOU
KNOW, A BLOOD VESSEL, TAIL VEIN
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS SORT
OF MINIMALLY INVASIVE, BUT THOSE
DON'T SEEM TO BE NONINVASIVE TO
ME.
I CAN'T IMAGINE THEM EVER,
EXCEPT IN THE MOST EXTREME
CASES, BEING TRANSLATED TO
HUMANS.
AND SO IF WE GET SOME
CLARIFICATION ON THAT.
>>SO THAT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD
QUESTION.
>>I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS.
>>YEAH, SO JUST VERY QUICKLY,
NONINVASIVE, IT MEANS THAT
THE -- APPROACH IS NOT USED.
>>I'M SURE THAT'S WHAT YOU
MEANT.
BUT --
>>SO TALKING ABOUT MR, PEOPLE
ALREADY THINK NONINVASIVE,
HOWEVER -- INJECTION OF
GADOLINIUM.
BUT -- MR IS INVASIVE, SO
SINGLE -- APPROACH BY ITSELF
IS --
>>YEAH, I -- MY OWN OPINION FOR
WHAT IT'S WORTH, IF THE ULTIMATE
GOAL IS TRANSLATION, I DON'T
THINK VIRALLY MEDIATED GENE
TRANSDUCTION BY INTRACRANIAL
ADMINISTRATION IS GOING TO GET
YOU THERE FOR HUMANS, JUST MY
OWN OPINION.
THE OTHER THING TO BE AWARE OF
IS, IF YOU'RE GOING TO GO AFTER
A PARTICULAR TARGET IF IT'S A
PROTEIN TARGET, AND I'VE TALKED
ABOUT THIS MANY TIMES BEFORE, I
THINK I'M A BROKEN RECORD ON
THIS, THAT MRNA DOESN'T REALLY
MEAN PROTEIN EXPRESSION.
THERE'S, YOU KNOW, VERY LITTLE
CORRELATION IN THE BRAIN BETWEEN
MRNA AND PROTEIN.
SO IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE, AS
PART OF YOUR DECISION PROCESS,
TO VERIFY THAT THE PROTEIN IS
EXPRESSED AT LEVELS IN THE
RECEPTOR, IN THE PARTICULAR
BRAIN AREA OR BRAIN CELL SO THAT
IT COULD BE DETECTED BY SOME
TECHNOLOGY.
>>OKAY.
GOOD POINT.
>>AND THE LAST QUESTION IS, I
WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS VERY
FIRST EXAMPLE THAT YOU GAVE,
WHERE DOPAMINE RECEPTOR SUBTYPE
NEURONS WERE IDENTIFIED BY SOME
OTHER PROTEIN.
I FORGET -- I DIDN'T WRITE DOWN
WHAT IT WAS, BUT HOW WOULD YOU
IMAGINE THAT SOMEONE COULD
TARGET THAT?
I HEARD THE IDEA OF POSSIBLY
MAKING NANOBODIES OR ANTIBODIES
AND THEN USING ULTRASOUND TO
DISRUPT THE BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER.
BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO WORK FOR
INTRACELLULAR TARGETS BECAUSE
THEY STILL HAVE TO GET ACROSS
THE PLASMA MEMBRANE.
SO IF YOU HAVE A CELL SURFACE
TARGET, THAT MIGHT BE FINE WITH
A NANOBODY, BUT NANOBODIES DON'T
GET ACROSS THE PLASMA MEMBRANE,
SO OPENING THE BLOOD BRAIN
BARRIER IS -- UNLESS YOU'RE
DISRUPTING PLASMA MEMBRANES IS
NOT GOING TO MAKE THIS WIDELY
APPLICABLE.
I DON'T THINK.
>>SO THE TYPICAL APPROACH, I
THINK, YOU KNOW, I CAN ADDRESS
YOUR SECOND AND THIRD QUESTION
ALL TOGETHER.
THE TYPICAL APPROACH IN THE --
TRANSCRIPT TOE MIX.
THEY ALSO APPLY SOME PROTEOMICS
AND SOME SURFACE -- PROTEIN
MARKERS.
IT'S NOT AS -- BASED -- SO --
FOCUS ON GENE, HOW TO TRANSLATE
THE GENE TO THE -- NONINVASIVE
IMAGE THROUGH -- IMAGING.
SO THE IDEA WHEN WE FIRST TARGET
THE GENE AND THE -- INTRODUCE
SOME SURFACE PROTEIN ENDOGENOUS,
OKAY, TO THE CELL, AND THAT CAN
BE DETECT A SECOND STEP BY USING
PET OR BY USING MR.
SO SECOND OR THIRD QUESTION, THE
CROSS PLASMA, I THINK THAT'S
ACTUALLY A MAJOR BARRIER FOR THE
PET IMAGING.
ALL THE -- TARGET SURFACE
PROTEIN MARKER, NOT NECESSARILY
BE MARK ARE FOREMR BASED.
>>THAT'S NOT TRUE.
>>OKAY.
>>THAT IS NOT TRUE.
>>OKAY.
>>MOST OF THEM DO, BUT IT'S NOT
TRUE THAT THEY ALL DO.
>>YEAH, SO MOST OF THEM
ACTUALLY TARGET ON THE SURFACE.
>>YEAH, THE REASON THEY TARGET
CELL SURFACE PROTEINS IS THOSE
ARE HIGHLY DRUGGABLE, AND IT'S
NOT EASY BUT IT'S A RELATIVELY
STRAIGHTFORWARD PROCESS TO GET A
PROBE THAT'S SPECIFIC FOR THE
TARGET.
SO CELL SURFACE PROTEINS HAVE
REALLY GOOD POCKETS FOR SMALL
MOLECULES, SO THEY'RE, YOU KNOW,
QUITE INTERROGATABLE BY PET OR
SPECT IMAGING.
THAT'S THE BASIC REASON.
AND I GUESS THE QUESTION WAS
RELATED TO THIS MYSTERY PROTEIN
IN THE D1 NEURONS.
I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU MIGHT USE
REPORTER GENES TO LOOK AT
TRANSCRIPTS.
THAT'S NOT GOING TO TELL YOU
ABOUT THE PROTEIN.
BUT HOW WOULD YOU TARGET THAT
PROTEIN, IF THAT WAS THE GOAL IN
A NONINVASIVE WAY?
THAT'S THE THING THAT'S VERY
PUZZLING TO ME.
>>HOW TO TARGET THE PROTEIN?
>>YEAH.
>>THAT'S BASICALLY A QUESTION
OF THIS MOLECULAR IMAGING, I
THINK.
>>YEAH, IT --
>>SO BRYAN, IF I CAN STEP IN
FOR A MINUTE, THESE ARE GREAT
POINTS AND I THINK THE THING
THAT I'M TRYING TO KEEP IN MIND
IS THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE
CERTAIN APPROACHES THAT CAN
DEMONSTRATE CERTAIN KINDS OF
PROOF OF PRINCIPLE IN THE ANIMAL
MODELS THAT WON'T BE DIRECTLY
APPLICABLE TO ALL ASPECTS OF
WHAT WE EVENTUALLY WILL WANT TO
BE IN TERMS OF HUMAN -- YOU'RE
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, INJECTING AN
ANIMAL WITH AN AAB IS NOT
NONINVASIVE, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO
DO THAT TO HUMAN, OR AT LEAST --
WELL, NOT RIGHT NOW, BUT IT
COULD ESTABLISH WAYS THAT WE
COULD ACTUALLY GIVE OURSELVES A
TARGET THAT WOULD ENABLE THE
DEVELOPMENT OF LIGANDS THAT CAN
CROSS OVER INTO THE BRAIN FROM
THE BLOODSTREAM.
SO IT JUST AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT?
SO THIS IS JUST TO SET UP A TEST
BED FOR, SAY, SETTING THE OTHER
ASPECT, LIGAND ASPECT OF THE
TARGETING WHILE WE WORK ON
FINDING THESE TARGETS FROM THE
CELL CENSUS INFORMATION, AND AS
SHUMIN MENTIONED,, PART OF IT IS
STARTING TO PUSH INTO
PROTEOMICS, IT'S JUST -- IN
TERMS OF REACHING THE BLOOD
BRAIN BARRIER, THIS IS THE HOLY
GRAIL FOR SO MANY THINGS AS YOU
KNOW.
FOCUSED ULTRASOUND, IT'S GOING
TO BE ONE MAYBE TOOL IN THE
TOOLKIT, BUT AS YOU ALSO KNOW,
THERE'S DIFFERENT -- THINGS GET
IN THROUGH DIFFERENT TRANSPORT
MECHANISMS, NOT JUST BY GETTING
AROUND THE JUNCTION.
SO I THINK WE JUST WANT TO LOOK
AT ALL THESE DIFFERENT
APPROACHES AND SEE WHAT SHAKES
OUT.
IT'S GOING TO BE TO A LARGE
DEGREE SOME KIND OF A SCREEN AND
AS YOU ALSO KNOW, NOT EVERYBODY
MAKES IT THROUGH THE SCREEN AND
NOT ALL SCREENS SUCCEED, WITH BI
THINK WE JUST NEED TO FIND A WAY
TO LEVERAGE THIS HUGE AMOUNT OF
INFORMATION COMING OUT OF THE
CELL CENSUS PROJECT TOGETHER
WITH DEVISING BETTER CHEMISTRY
SO WE CAN GET BETTER IMAGING
TOOLS.
SO ALL THESE POINTS ARE REALLY
WELL TAKEN.
I THINK, SHUMIN, WE JUST NEED TO
BE A LITTLE CLEARER ABOUT WHICH
PARTS OF THE PROJECT, WHICH
KINDS OF PROBLEM, THEREFORE,
SOLUTIONS WE HOPE TO FIND WITH
DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND NOT TO
GET THEM CONFUSED TOO MUCH WITH
EACH OTHER.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT HELPS
CLARIFY, BRYAN?
WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THESE
THOUGHTS AND THEY WILL HELP
CLARIFY HOW WE APPROACH THIS.
>>GREAT, THANKS.
>>THANKS FOR THE DISCUSSION ON
THIS INTERESTING POTENTIAL
PROJECT.
I THINK IT IS REALLY ACTUALLY
VERY INTRIGUING.
AND I THINK WE SHOULD THINK
ABOUT SEPARATING THE IDEA OF
FUNDAMENTAL OR BASIC SCIENCE
FROM THE CLINICAL ASPECTS OF IT.
AND THIS SPEAKS A LITTLE BIT TO
SOME OF COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE
A LITTLE BIT EARLIER BY BRUCE.
I THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE IN
VITRO MODELS SUCH AS -- CULTURES
AS OPPOSED TO WORRYING ABOUT
SCREENING IN VIVO, AT LEAST
INITIALLY, TO TRY TO LOOK AT
THOSE MOLECULES THAT MIGHT
ACTUALLY END UP BEING GOOD CELL
MARKERS.
I HAVE TO SAY, I DISAGREE WITH
BRYAN ON THE BEST CORRELATION OF
RNA ABUNDANCES WITH PROTEIN
ABUNDANCES.
IN MOST CASES THAT WE'VE LOOKED
AT, THERE'S RELATIVELY GOOD
CORRELATION.
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY 1 TO 1, BUT
AS YOU GET INCREASES IN RNA, YOU
GENERALLY GET INCREASES IN
PROTEIN, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
OF COURSE IT'S NOT 1 TO 1 AND
YOU HAVE TO KEEP THAT IN MIND,
SO LOOKING FOR PROTEIN MARKERS
IS APPROPRIATE AS WELL, BUT I
THINK THE RNA MARKERS ARE NOT A
BAD WAY OF STARTING TO LOOK AT
THIS AND TO IDENTIFY TARGETS
THAT ONE MIGHT WANT TO LOOK AT.
IN ADDITION TO THIS, THOUGH, I
THINK THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY, AND I
THINK LOOKING INTO THE PROTEIN
MARKERS AND THINGS ON THE CELL
SURFACE, IT'S PERFECTLY
REASONABLE TO THINK ABOUT AND
TRY TO TARGET THE SINGLE CELL
ANALYSIS THAT'S ALREADY BEEN
DONE TO IDENTIFY THOSE
MOLECULES.
BULL THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR TRYING TO ALSO SCREEN FOR
RNA ABUNDANCES IN LIVE CELLS.
NOT JUST LOOKING AT PROTEIN AND
BINDING OF ANTIBODIES AND
ANTIBODIES TO CELL SURFACE
MARKER, BUT TRYING TO GET
MOLECULES INSIDE CELLS AS
POTENTIAL MARKERS OF CELL
FUNCTION, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE
TALKING ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF
SOME OF THE CALCIUM IMAGING
MODALITIES EARLIER, BUT IN TERMS
OF LOOKING AT THE CELL
NON-INVASIVELY, THERE MAY BE
SOME WAYS OF TRYING TO DO THIS
WITH NEUROTECHNOLOGIES, AND
USING THIS AS A FOCAL POINT TO
TRY TO DEVELOP THOSE
TECHNOLOGIES TO LOOK AT THOSE
RNAs THAT ARE DIFFERENT BASED
UPON SINGLE CELL
TRANSCRIPTOMICS, AND I THINK
THAT'S NOT A BAD WAY TO SORT OF
THINK ABOUT THIS.
SO I AM SORT OF OKAY WITH THIS.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT
ISSUES, AND NOW THE RANGE OF
SENSITIVITY THAT YOU'RE GOING TO
HAVE, BRUCE TALKED ABOUT
AMPLIFICATION.
I THINK IT'S A GREAT THING TO
THINK ABOUT, ANOTHER AREA OF
DISCOVERY WITH RESPECT TO THIS
PARTICULAR RFA.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SORT OF
THINK ABOUT.
A LOT OF TRANSCRIPTOMICS DATA
THAT'S BEEN GENERATED IS
CONSTRAINED BY THE TIME IT WAS
GENERATED.
THERE'S NOT A LOT OF TIME COURSE
STUDIES FOR A LOT OF THE CELL
TYPES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
TARGETING.
OF COURSE TIME COURSE CHANGES
AND RNA ABUNDANCES ARE
WELL-KNOWN AND PROTEIN
ABUNDANCES ARE WELL-KNOWN, SO
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS
LIKE THAT THAT I THINK YOU HAVE
TO KEEP IN MIND, BUT I THINK
IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
DISCOVERY IN A FOCUS AREA WHERE
THE GOAL IS TO TRY TO DO
NONINVASIVE IMAGING IN REALTIME.
SO I GUESS I'M HAPPIER ABOUT
THIS, I THINK, THAN PERHAPS
BRYAN IS.
>>THANK YOU, JAMES.
>>I DIDN'T SAY I WAS UNHAPPY.
THESE WERE -- I'M ALWAYS HAPPY
TO GET IMAGING IN THE BRAIN.
BUT I DID HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
SO THOSE ARE -- I WOULD SAY
THOSE ARE MORE QUESTIONS THAN
CRITIQUES.
>>NO, I MEAN, TO BE CLEAR,
LISTEN, THERE'S A REASON WHY WE
ARE PRESENTING THIS TO YOU FOLKS
AND THERE'S A REASON WHY WE
ASKED YOU TO WEIGH IN.
THIS IS INPUT THAT IS GREAT,
BECAUSE SOME OF THESE ISSUES,
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, AND
SOME OF THEM, WE HAVEN'T BEEN
TALKING ABOUT PERHAPS AS MUCH AS
WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
SO YOU KNOW, ANYTHING WE CAN DO
TO GET MORE CLARITY AND TO MAKE
SURE THAT THIS HAS THE MOST
IMPACT AS POSSIBLE, THIS IS WHY
WE'RE HERE.
SO PLEASE, NOBODY APOLOGIZE FOR
GIVING US REASON TO THINK ABOUT
IT HARDER AND BETTER.
SORRY, I SEE -- TED AND WALTER.
>>HI.
THANKS A LOT, SHUMIN.
IT'S A VERY INTERESTING
DISCUSSION.
I THINK IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT
AND CHALLENGING PROBLEM THAT
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR
QUITE SOME TIME.
SO IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE COULD
FIND A WAY TO CRACK IT.
THE ONE THING THAT I JUST WANTED
TO SORT OF POINT OUT IS THAT
WE -- IT IS REALLY -- IT'S
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IN THE
BRAIN CENSUS DATA WHERE AT LEAST
THE MAJORITY OF THE DATA THAT IS
AVAILABLE NOW IS REALLY DATA AT
RESTING STATE OR SOME SORT OF A
BASELINE, AND THERE'S VERY --
THERE'S MUCH FEWER DATA LOOKING
AT CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION.
AND I THINK A LOT OF WHAT YOU
MIGHT WANT TO IMAGE ARE THE
CHANGES, AND YOU COULD ALSO --
YOU COULD SORT OF MAKE AN
ARGUMENT THAT WHAT MATTERS MOST
ARE THE CHANGES.
I MEAN, WE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO
KNOW CELL TYPES, I'M NOT SAYING
THAT, BUT I THINK WE'RE MISSING
SOME FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE HERE
CHARACTERIZING THE CHANGES AT
THE LEVEL OF THE CENSUS DATA,
THE CELL CENSUS DATA.
WHICH IS WHAT'S KIND OF NEEDED
TO REALLY INFORM THE CHOICE OF
THESE KINDS OF MARKERS.
WE'RE KIND OF USING OLD MARKERS
THAT ARE VERY EFFECTIVE, BUT
THEY'RE BASED ON OLDER STUDIES,
NOT NECESSARILY BRAIN-WIDE OR
THE MORE SEQUENCING APPROACHES.
>>TED, THAT'S A GREAT POINT.
I THINK OF ALL THE IMAGING
BIOMARKERS, WE LOOK AT CHANGING
SOMETHING, SOME ASPECT.
BUT THE FIRST STEP IS TO BE ABLE
TO IDENTIFY THE CELL TYPE, AND
BASED ON THE IMAGE, QUANTIFY
CHANGES.
THAT WOULD BE THE NEXT STEP.
AND ALSO THIS CONCEPT IS BASED
ON THE CURRENT STATUS -- I THINK
A LOGICAL FIRST STEP TO JUST BE
ABLE TO MAP THEM OUT, TELL THE
TYPE OR SUBTYPE, THEN IN THE
FUTURE, WE TOTALLY AGREE --
CHANGING LEVELS WILL BE MOST
SIGNIFICANT.
>>IF I CAN JUST ADD ON THAT
REAL QUICKLY, TED, THAT'S A
GREAT POINT.
I THINK WE NEED TO START ON A
BASELINE.
THAT SAID, THERE IS QUITE A BIT
OF WORK BEING DONE TO PROFILE
DIFFERENT -- TO PROFILE
MICROGLIA IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF
REACTIVITY, INFLAMMATION, ALSO
IN DIFFERENT BRAIN AREAS.
NOW THERE'S BEEN SOME ISSUES
WITH SOME OF THOSE DATA.
THAT WILL GET CLEARED UP.
SO I THINK THIS IS THE START.
THE DATA ON THE TRANSCRIPTOMIC
AND HOPEFULLY PROTEOMIC CELL
TYPES IN THESE DIFFERENT STATES
WILL START COMING OUT AND IT'S
REALLY GOING TO BE UP TO
INVESTIGATORS THAT ARE COMING
INTO THESE HYPOTHETICAL RFAs,
RIGHT, TO KIND OF COME UP WITH
CREATIVE APPROACHES THAT WILL
LET US GET AT THOSE KINDS OF
QUESTIONS.
SO I THINK THE DOOR IS GOING TO
BE WIDE OPEN.
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHAT DATA
WE'LL HAVE TO WORK WITH ON THAT.
>>I'D ALSO LIKE TO PROBABLY --
CELL TYPE SPECIFIC IMAGING.
WE HAVE -- DISCUSSION IN
WORKSHOP TWO YEARS AGO.
-- RESPONSE FROM THE --
COMMUNITY.
TELL US THE SURFACE PROTEIN
BIOMARKER DEVELOP -- FOR YOU.
SO THAT'S -- MOST OF THEM
ACTUALLY TRANSCRIPTOMICS, NOT --
SO ASK WHERE THIS CONCEPT COME
FROM.
SO WE THINK THE -- FIRST STEP TO
DO SOME KIND OF REPORTER GENES
TO TRY DIFFERENT GENE TO SURFACE
PROTEIN BIOMARKERS THAN FOR
THE -- EASILY -- NEXT STEP.
>>WALTER, I JUST WOULD LIKE TO
REMIND PEOPLE THAT WE'RE OVER
AND I THINK I'D LIKE TO TRY TO
STOP THIS DISCUSSION AT 2:30 AND
THEN WE CAN START A HALF-HOUR
LATER FOR THE CLOSED SESSION.
BUT BRYAN, I KNOW YOU ALSO NEED
TO ABSOLUTELY BE GONE BY 2:30,
SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT
YOU WANTED TO SAY BEFORE WALTER
AND JAMES MAKE A COMMENT?
>>NO, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO
SAY.
I JUST WANT TO -- I WANT TO
EMPHASIZE, I THINK THIS IS A
REALLY INTERESTING PROGRAM.
I WAS ASKED TO GIVE COMMENTS.
>>AND WE APPRECIATE THIS.
>>LISTEN, WE APPRECIATE IT.
THIS IS GREAT.
I MEAN, THIS IS -- THIS IS WHAT
WE WANT, ABSOLUTELY.
AND HOPEFULLY YOU'LL BE SEEING
MORE OF IT AND HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY TO STEER US THROUGH
IT ONCE WE GET IT OFF THE
GROUND.
>>BRYAN, CAN I ASK YOU A
QUESTION BEFORE YOU LEAVE?
>>GO AHEAD.
>>SO YEAH, THIS IS NOT FOR THE
FAINT OF HEART.
>>NO.
>>BUT I THINK BRYAN KNOWS THIS.
MY QUESTION IS, WHO -- IF YOU'RE
GOING TO DO THIS, WHO ARE THE
BEST PEOPLE TO GET TOGETHER TO
DO IT?
WHAT I KNOW IS, THE BEST RADIO
LIGANDS ARE IN THE INDUSTRY AND
THE THIF THINK THE INDUSTRY PEOE
MIGHT BE REALLY INTERESTED IN
THIS.
BUT I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE HAD
CONTACT WITH INDUSTRY FOLKS, OR
BRUCE.
I ACTUALLY BROUGHT THIS UP TO
THE HEAD OF LILY.
YEARS AGO, WE TALKED ABOUT DOING
THIS.
>>YEAH, THE PROBLEM IS THAT
MOST OF THE COMPANIES HAVE GOT
OUT OF CNS.
EXCEPT FOR MAYBE ALZHEIMER'S
DISEASE.
AND SO A LOT OF THE REALLY GOOD
CNS CHEMISTS ARE GONE.
BUT JACOB HOOKER, SO I KNOW
JACOB VERY WELL, HE'S AN
EXTREMELY INNOVATIVE PERSON, AND
I WOULD TAP INTO HIM TO GET WHO
HE WOULD THINK WOULD BE GOOD
PEOPLE TO DISCUSS THIS OR GET
INVOLVED IN THIS.
>>BRYAN, I'VE GOT A QUICK
QUESTION FOR YOU ON WALTER'S
POINT.
I'VE ALSO THOUGHT FOR YEARS, I
MEAN, INDUSTRY IS SITTING ON
THESE HUGE LIBRARIES OF
COMPOUNDS THAT FAILED AS DRUGS
BUT MIGHT HAVE VERY INTERESTING
PROPERTIES FROM AN IMAGING
STANDPOINT.
BUT OF COURSE THE COMPANIES WERE
RELUCTANT TO KIND OF RELEASE
THEM.
IS THE FACT THAT MANY OF THESE
COMPANIES ARE KIND OF OUT OF THE
NEURAL BUSINESS, DOES THAT OPEN
UP THEIR WILLINGNESS TO
POTENTIALLY PARTICIPATE AND YOU
KNOW, GIVE ACCESS TO THEIR
LIBRARIES FOR EXPLORATION FOR
THIS SETTING OUTSIDE THE
THERAPEUTIC SETTING?
>>IN MY EXPERIENCE, NO.
BUT WHAT WE DO IS WE JUST MINE
THE PATENT DATABASE.
SO MOST OF THE COMPOUNDS WILL BE
IN THE -- MOST OF THE GOOD
COMPOUNDS WILL BE IN THE PATENT
LITERATURE.
IT JUST A MATTER OF UBERING
THOSE UP.
SO I HAVE TO GO.
THANKS, BYE.
>>THANKS, BRYAN.
>>YOU KNOW, WE'LL NEED TO THINK
ABOUT WAYS OF GET BEING THE WORD
OUT AND ENGAGING FOLKS THAT
HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE GAME.
I THINK BEYOND, YOU KNOW, THIS
PET IMAGING LIGAND SPACE,
THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER STUFF
GOING ON IN TERMS OF DEVELOPING
DIFFERENT REACTIVE COMPOUNDS,
AND PRODUCTS, THAT WE CAN AT
LEAST USE FOR THE ANIMAL MODEL
ESTABLISH A VALIDATION.
THERE'S ALL KINDS OF TRICKY WAYS
OF -- PROTEINS AND PUTTING
CHEMICALS ON AND OFF THEM AND
DOING SO IN TIME SEQUENCE WAYS
AND ALL KINDS OF STUFF, SO WE'RE
HOPING THAT COMBINING THOSE
KINDS OF INNOVATIONS TOGETHER
WITH THE CELL CENSUS TOGETHER
WITH SOME CLEVER CHEMISTRY, WE
CAN ACTUALLY COME UP WITH
SOMETHING NEW, AND THAT'S KIND
OF THE GOAL HERE.
I SEE JIM'S HAND UP.
WE ARE KIND OF RUNNING SHORT.
WE DON'T WANT TO CUT TOO MUCH
INTO PEOPLE'S BREAK TIME.
PLEASE, JIM.
>>THE OTHER THING I JUST WANT
TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT THE WAY IN
WHICH THIS WAS FRAMED, THIS IS
BASED ON SINGLE CELL DATA.
AND SO THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT IS
THAT SINGLE CELL ANALYSIS ALLOWS
YOU TO LOOK AT RNAs THAT ARE
LOWER ABUNDANCE THAT YOU DON'T
NECESSARILY DETECT IN A
POPULATION OF CELLS.
IT ALLOWS YOU TO IDENTIFY
SUBPOPULATIONS OF CELLS THAT
PRESUMTIVELY HAVE THE SAME
TRANSCRIPTOMICS PHENOTYPE
ANYWAYS, AND ALLOWS YOU TO
ENRICH FOR THOSE MOLECULES.
SO THIS REALLY GIVES YOU A
BETTER TARGET SET TO BASE YOUR
INITIAL HYPOTHESIS GENERATING
STUDIES ON, AND THE OTHER ASPECT
OF IT THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT
IS THAT THE FUTURE IMAGING
MOLECULES LIKELY WON'T BE SINGLE
MOLECULE-BASED, THEY WON'T BE
SINGLE PROTEIN BASED, TO TRY TO
DISCERN THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
THESE SUBTYPES OF CELLS.
SO USING THE SINGLE CELL
TRANSCRIPTOMICS DATA, WHERE YOU
LOOK AT CLASSES OF CELLS, AND
THE INDIVIDUAL CELLS WITHIN THEM
WILL GIVE YOU BETTER FOOTHOLD IN
DETERMINING THE -- PROTEINS YOU
MIGHT LOOK AT BASED UPON CELL
TYPE SPECIFICITY AND WHAT YOU'RE
TRYING TO IMAGE.
SO THIS SET OF STUDIES GIVES
PEOPLE WAYS SORT OF THINKING
ABOUT SINGLE CELL DATA AND
APPROACHES LIKE THIS THAT MIGHT
BE USEFUL EVEN ACROSS OTHER
TYPES OF DISCIPLINES AND OTHER
TYPES OF STUDIES.
SO I THINK IT'S A GOOD
PIONEERING STUDY IN TERMS OF
GETTING PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT
HOWL TO MINE THE SINGLE CELL
DATASETS FOR INTERESTING AND
USEFUL INFORMATION.
>>THANK YOU, JAMES, WE
DEFINITELY -- DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SINGLE CELLS AND -- IMAGING --
EXAMPLE.
THAT'S WHY -- FROM THIS CONCEPT,
TO WHICH EXTENT THOSE -- CAN BE
CLASSIFIED.
>>OKAY.
I THINK WE NEED TO END THE
DISCUSSION, BUT THANK YOU ALL
VERY MUCH.
WHY DON'T WE START THIS BACK UP
AT 2:50, 10 MINUTES BEFORE
THRE3:00,SO YOU'VE STILL GOT 25S
FOR A BREAK AND WE WILL JUST BE
STARTING THE CLOSED SESSION A
LITTLE LATER.
JOHN, IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?
>>YEAH, IF IT'S OKAY WITH
EVERYBODY ELSE.
I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY
FOR A GREAT DISCUSSION, AND
LISTEN, I MEAN, THIS IS THE KIND
OF DISCUSSION WE REALLY VALUE,
BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN -- WE VIEW
THIS CONCEPT AS A GREAT
OPPORTUNITY, BUT AS YOU ALL
KNOW, IT'S GOING TO BE A TOUGH
GO.
WE'RE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING
DIFFERENT TO BREAK THROUGH WHAT
I'VE PERCEIVED, WHAT WE'VE
PERCEIVED TO BE SOME PRETTY BIG
BARRIERS.
SO BEING CRITICAL IS WHAT'S
GOING TO MAKE US BE BETTER, AND
I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT WE
WELCOME THESE COMMENTS AND
CRITIQUES.
OKAY, SO SEE YOU ALL IN CLOSED
SESSION IN 20 MINUTES.
>>25.
2:50.
>>2:50.
OKAY.
COOL.
ALL RIGHT.
SEE YOU LATER, BYE.
>>BYE.