Cellular and Molecular Biology of Complex Brain Disorders (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Cellular and Molecular Biology of Complex Brain Disorders is a grant opportunity that does not allow clinical trials. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports research exploring the biology of significant risk factors linked with complex brain disorders. The research focus is on the intracellular, transcellular, and circuit substrates of neural function.

The term "complex" in this FOA can refer to brain disorders that have multiple factors contributing to their risk, such as genetic and/or environmental elements. These disorders may also have highly distributed functional features.

The supported studies can either generate hypotheses (unbiased discovery) or test existing hypotheses. Researchers can use a range of experimental paradigms, including in vivo, in situ, or in vitro, involving models of organisms or human cell-based assays. Implementing behavioral paradigms and outcome measures to help characterize intracellular, transcellular, and circuit mechanisms is an option, though not required or expected.

Rather than attempting to model disorders, the funded studies should aim to uncover the neurobiological impact of individual or combined risk factors. Examples of these include affected molecular and cellular components and their relationships within specific biological processes. The study can also delve into the basic biology of these factors, components, and processes.

The results, which may include paradigms, component pathways, and biological processes, should be shared in great detail to help improve common and/or federated data resources such as the Gene Ontology, Synaptic Gene Ontology, and FAIR Data Informatics. This will assist in closing the gap between disease risk factors, biological mechanisms, and the identification of therapeutic targets.

Currently, only R01 applications are being accepted for this announcement.