Notice Number: NOT-MH-09-010

Key Dates
Release Date:  May 12, 2009

Issued by
NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research (http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (http://nccam.nih.gov/)
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) (http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/)
National Eye Institute (NEI) (http://www.nei.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Aging (NIA) (http://www.nia.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) (http://www.nibib.nih.gov/)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (http://www.nida.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) (http://www.nigms.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (http://www.ninr.nih.gov/)
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) (http://obssr.od.nih.gov/)

Purpose of the Notice

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, comprising 16 Institutes, Centers and Offices, announces the forthcoming issuance of a Request for Applications (RFA) for The Human Connectome Project. The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research plans to fund one award for a project period of five years for a maximum of $6 million per year in total costs.  This new RFA is expected to be published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts during the summer of 2009.  This RFA will support the development and sharing of data and knowledge of the structural and functional connectivity of the human brain, and will use the cooperative agreement (U54) mechanism with subcontracts, as appropriate.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME. However, this Notice is to encourage investigators with appropriate backgrounds and capabilities to pro-actively plan to submit applications in response to the forthcoming RFA.

Overview of the Initiative

The overall purpose of this five year Human Connectome Project (HCP) is to develop and share knowledge about the structural and functional connectivity of the human brain.  This purpose will be pursued through the following specific efforts:  Existing, but cutting-edge, non-invasive imaging technologies will be optimized and combined to acquire structural and functional in vivo data about axonal projections and neural connections from brains of hundreds of healthy adults.  Demographic data and data regarding sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional, and social function will also be collected for each subject, as will DNA samples and blood (to establish cell lines). Models to better understand and use these data will be developed. Connectivity patterns will be linked to existing architectonic data. Data and models will be made public immediately via a user-friendly system to include tools to query, organize, visualize and analyze data.  Outreach activities will be conducted to engage and educate the research community about the imaging tools, data, models, and informatics tools.  After five years, these specific efforts are expected to deliver:  1) A set of integrated, non-invasive imaging tools to obtain connectivity data from humans in vivo, 2) A gold-standard, quantitative set of human connectivity data linked to behavioral and genetic data as well as to general, existing architectonic data, and associated models, from up to hundreds of healthy adult female and male subjects, and 3) Rapid, user-friendly dissemination of connectivity data, models, and tools to the research community via outreach activities and an informatics platform.

Inquiries

Complete information on the training program will be provided in the RFA, which is expected to be published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts in the Summer of 2009.  Prospective applicants are encouraged to check the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts for the RFA publication and/or subscribe to the NIMHFUNDINGOPPS list serv to receive emails about recent NIMH publications to the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts.

For any additional inquiries, please contact:

Michael Huerta, Ph.D.
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7202, MSC 9645
Bethesda, MD  20892-9645
Telephone:  (301) 443-1815
FAX:  (301) 443-1731
Email:  [email protected]