Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN): Coordinating Unit for Biostatistics, Informatics, and Engagement (CUBIE) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Summary/Description

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), along with the NIH Institutes and Centers participating in the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support an integrated Coordinating Unit of Biostatistics, Informatics, and Engagement (CUBIE) that will be composed of four subunits to establish respectively (1) a common sequencing data processing pipeline, (2) a common imaging data processing pipeline, (3) a comprehensive brain cell knowledge base, and (4) an engagement and outreach element to coordinate the research activities within and beyond the BICAN. CUBIE is expected to coordinate and collaborate with BICAN and other interested investigators in the research community to build reference brain cell atlases that will be widely used throughout the research community, providing a molecular and anatomical foundational framework for the study of brain function and disorders. In particular, CUBIE is expected to interact closely with the BRAIN Initiative data archives in building the common data processing pipelines upon cloud-based infrastructure with high-performance computing environment. Applications are expected to propose only one of the above four respective subunits. This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. The FOA is expected to be published in July, 2021 with an expected application due date in November, 2021. This FOA will utilize the U24 activity code. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.