The Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience is a hospital-wide program with a mission to support collaborations across departments and disciplines as they relate to neuroscience and brain disorders research. To advance this mission we support a range of projects and activities, including those listed below. Please contact our Executive Director Charles Jennings with questions or suggestions.
NeuroTechnology Studio
The NeuroTechnology Studio is a platform of advanced instrumentation and expert support for research at BWH and other local institutions. Its primary mission is to advance understanding of brain function and brain disease by providing researchers with access to cutting-edge technologies, in areas that include microscopic imaging, histology, cell screening, molecular profiling, cell metabolism, and medicinal chemistry.
Women’s Brain Initiative
Many brain conditions disproportionately affect women, including multiple sclerosis, depression, eating disorders, headaches and many others. Conversely, women are at reduced risk for certain disorders— for example autism and Parkinson’s disease. The Women’s Brain Initiative (WBI) supports BWH researchers who are studying these issues, with the goal of understanding the basis for sex differences in brain health and improving health outcomes for all patients.
PIN pilot award program
PIN Pilot Awards provide one year of funding for innovative projects across all areas of neuroscience. These awards are supported by philanthropic donations and are targeted to emerging independent researchers at an early career stage, including postdocs, clinical fellows, instructors and newly appointed assistant professors. The program also provides access to potential mentors, collaborators, colleagues and resources of the BWH neuroscience community. Calls for applictions are announced on this website and are also broadcast via the Brigham Research Institute’s regular email newsletters and other channels throughout the hospital.
Other projects and collaborations:
The Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience also supports other projects and collaborations within and beyond BWH, including the following:
-Support for the Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neuroscience, a medicinal chemistry lab that works collaboratively to develop new molecules as potential treatments for brain disease.
-Acquisition of an ultra-high-performance head-only MRI scanner for brain research, in collaboration with the Department of Radiology.
-Establishing a Brain Donation Hub, in collaboration with the Department of Pathology. This program aims to engage end-of-life patients and their families to consider brain donation in support of our research, especially in the field of neurodegenerative disease.
-Support for a Joint Mouse Behavior Core facility, through a consortium agreement with Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. This core, located in the Longwood Medical Area close to BWH, provides access to testing facilities and expert advice on mouse behavioral assays.
-Support for the future acquisition of an advanced Mass Spectrometry Imaging system, in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery. This system, the first of its type in the US, is expected to be installed in early 2025, and will allow researchers to map the distribution of metabolites and small-molecule drugs in tissues, with unprecedented spatial resolution.
Last Updated on January 8, 2025 by PIN Admin