Training Self-Knowledge to Improve Learning and Problem Solving
Project Duration: 02/01/2024 - 01/31/2027
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Dept. Investigator(s): Chantel Prat
Abstract:
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The study explores the potential for using self-knowledge training to improve learning and problem-solving performance. It deploys the PIs expertise in the biological and experiential factors that drive individual differences in cognition and social learning theory.
Rear and Release Population Augmentation of the Åga or Mariana Crow
Project Duration: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2026
Sponsor: Zoological Society of San Diego / US FWS
Dept. Investigator(s): Sarah K. Faegre
Abstract:
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This project continues research on survival of an endangered species, including artificial incubation and hand rearing, native foraging and pre-release antipredator training, sampling to monitor for disease in hand-reared birds, and investigation of factors leading to nesting failure of wild and captive-reared birds using nest monitoring cameras.
Promoting Intraminority Solidarity Through Intergroup Relations Framings
Project Duration: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2026
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dept. Investigator(s): Sapna Cheryan
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This project investigates how different framings of racism influence Asian Americans’ intraminority solidarity with Black Americans. It explores whether framing racism against Black Americans as the result of anti-Blackness increases Asian Americans’ sense of solidarity with Black Americans, compared to framing racism as the result of White supremacy.
Effects of Direct and Vicarious Discrimination on Alcohol and Cannabis Cravings: Virtual Reality Experiment
Project Duration: 09/15/2023 - 07/31/2027
Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Dept. Investigator(s): Priscilla Lui
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This project examines effects of both direct and vicarious racial discrimination on alcohol and cannabis use and co-use.
Exploring affect-motivated alcohol use as a value-based decision-making process.
Project Duration: 09/06/2023 - 08/31/2025
Sponsor: National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Dept. Investigator(s): Kevin King, Jonas Dora
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K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award launches a career as an independent scientist. This K99 phase will provide intensive training in the combined study of alcohol use with experimental, ecological momentary assessment, and computational approaches, and will position Dr. Dora to make substantial contributions to the field of alcohol research
Heterogeneity in joint real-time and developmental influences of positive and negative social media experiences on socioemotional vulnerability and psychopathology across adolescence
Project Duration: 09/04/2023 - 07/31/2028
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Lucía Magis-Weinberg, Katherine T. Foster
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This project seeks to characterize positive and negative online experiences as sources of risk and resilience for loneliness and psychopathology, studying in early and mid adolescents, key developmental points of transformation of peer interactions.
Ethical and Responsible Practices for Research Participant Demographic Information
Project Duration: 09/01/2023 - 08/31/2025
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dept. Investigator(s): Yuichi Shoda
Abstract:
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This project seeks to improve research practices to obtain and report racial identity information in ways that recognizeand respect individuals’ identity and avoids reinforcing essentialized views of race.
Attention allocation as a computational mechanism for altered sensory processing in autism
Project Duration: 08/01/2023 - 05/31/2028
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Scott Murray
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This project tests the hypothesis that spatial- and feature-based attention is more narrowly focused and that rapidoscillations of attention occur at a slower rate in people with autism spectrum disorder ASD.
Anatomical, neural, and computational constraints on sensory cross-modal plasticity following early blindness
Project Duration: 04/01/2023 - 03/31/2025
Sponsor: National Eye Institute
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine, Woon Ju Park
Abstract:
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This is a K99/R00 award for Woon Ju Park. This project investigates how early blindness affects auditory processing within the deprived visual cortex.
Brain-wide dynamics underlying behavioral multitasking in Drosophila
Project Duration: 03/01/2023 - 02/28/2026
Sponsor: Simons Foundation
Dept. Investigator(s): Osama Ahmed
Abstract:
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This project combines recent advances in behavioral analysis, in vivo brain-wide neural imaging, and neurogenetics to investigate the coordination of locomotion and acoustic signal production (courtship song) in a genetically tractable model: Drosophila melanogaster.
Development of A Behavioral Intervention Program for Families of Autistic Adults
Project Duration: 02/01/2023 - 01/31/2025
Sponsor: Organization for Autism Research
Dept. Investigator(s): Wendy Stone
Abstract:
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This grant supports the research of Dr. Daina Tagavi. The project develops a protocol to offer autistic adults and their families a tool for adaptive skill development to engage in desired community activities and to live independently.
Strengthen Computational Neuroanatomy Using DIPY
Project Duration: 11/12/2022 - 10/31/2024
Sponsor: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)/Indiana University
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Rokem
Abstract:
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DIPY is a Python library for analysis of 3D/4D+ imaging data. This project proposes to extend DIPY’s capabilities and grow its community: extend the image registration, parallelization of processing, and improve documentation.
Early Age-Related Hearing Loss Investigation (EARHLI): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess theMechanisms Linking Early Age-Related Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
Project Duration: 09/15/2022 - 08/31/2027
Sponsor: NIH/Columbia University
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine
Abstract:
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This study measures brain organization/connectivity. It is an early Phase II randomized controlled trial to obtainpreliminary data on mechanisms and efficacy of a hearing aid-based intervention to prevent cognitive decline in those atrisk for Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias.
Genetic Risk for Serious Mental Illness and Development
Project Duration: 08/01/2022 - 05/31/2027
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Jennifer Forsyth
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This project builds upon our existing infrastructure for large-scale studies of adult serious mental illnesses serious mental illness SMI in the region to establish a new cohort of 3,000 children and early adolescents at elevated or low risk for SMI. Study findings will clarify the associations between genomic risk profile and premorbid clinical markers of psychopathology; clarify the relative power of genetic versus clinical, neurobehavioral, and environmental factors for predicting clinical outcomes; and establish a unique resource for the scientific community for rich longitudinal investigation for years to come, and quantify the relative power of genetic versus clinical and neurobehavioral characteristics for predicting clinical outcomes.
Auditory Neuroscience Training Program
Project Duration: 07/01/2022 - 06/30/2027
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Dept. Investigator(s): Joseph Sisneros
Abstract:
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The Auditory Neuroscience Training Program, established in 2002, helps train basic neuroscience researchers in clinical disciplines. Trainees participate in research programs in neuroanatomy, development, genetics, cell and molecular biology, neuropharmacology, and electrophysiology of the peripheral and central auditory system as well as psychoacoustics, language perception and processing, and communication behavior. They have the opportunity to combine research through collaborative efforts.
ECR:Core: Promoting spatial skill development through spatial structuring and language
Project Duration: 06/15/2022 - 05/31/2027
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Starr
Abstract:
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This project will provide new insights into the development of spatial skills and their relation to STEM achievement in order to best set students up for success. Alongside this research is a plan to provide intensive research experience for undergraduate students and a plan to create a bidirectional relation between community participation in research and scientific outreach activities.
Hormonal and acoustic regulation of the dopaminergic auditory efferent system: improving detection of social acoustic signals at the level of the inner ear
Project Duration: 05/01/2022 - 04/30/2025
Sponsor: NIH/CUNY Brooklyn College
Dept. Investigator(s): Joseph Sisneros
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This UW subaward project will set up and help run sound playback experiments where female midshipman fish are exposed to recorded male midshipman advertisement calls vs. controls, and will measure female behavioral response (phonotaxis) to synthesized advertisement call.
Annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society: Travel grants for junior investigators
Project Duration: 01/01/2022 - 12/31/2024
Sponsor: National Eye Institute
Dept. Investigator(s): Geoffrey Boynton
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This project provides travel awards for early-career investigators to attend annual meetings of the Vision Sciences Society.
Optimizing Evidence-Based Practice Implementation for Clinical Impact: the IMPACT Center
Project Duration: 09/01/2021 - 07/31/2025
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Shannon Dorsey
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This ALACRITY (Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness) Center goal is to improve evidence-based practices. It develops an open-source, database of methods and guidelines for strategies that can be utilized by practitioners and researchers.
Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the implications for sight restoration technologies
Project Duration: 05/01/2021 - 04/30/2026
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Ione Fine
Abstract:
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Within a decade, many blind individuals are likely to be offered a wide range of options for sight restoration - including electronic prostheses, gene therapy and optogenetics. However the vision provided by almost all of these technologies will differ substantially from normal sight. The question of this proposal is – What role can cortical plasticity play in helping patients make use of the artificial visual input provided by sight recovery technology?
University of Washington Developmental AIDS Research Center for Mental Health
Project Duration: 04/01/2021 - 02/28/2025
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Jane Simoni
Abstract:
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The University of Washington Developmental AIDS Research Center for Mental Health, based in Seattle, catalyzes new mental health and HIV research and develops new research leaders across the multidisciplinary spectrum of clinical, epidemiologic, statistical, behavioral, and implementation science expertise necessary to bend the curve of the global HIV epidemic. Our team blends expertise in HIV prevention, care and treatment, management of complex patients with HIV and co-morbidities, models of mental health care delivery in primary care, user-centered design for effective deployment of evidence-based psychological interventions in diverse care settings, care for co-morbid traumatic stress and substance use disorders, management of co-occurring mental disorders and other medical conditions, and rigorous quantitative methods for social science research. We bring experience in the conduct of impactful research with partners in regional and global HIV care settings and through the work of our four Cores we aim to catalyze and support innovative and impactful research to curb the HIV epidemic, with a focus on integrated intervention strategies that address HIV and mental disorders.
Passive mobile sensing and machine learning for the detection of drinking episodes
Project Duration: 02/15/2021 - 01/31/2026
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Kevin King
Abstract:
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The proposed research study will use passive mobile sensing data in a large ambulatory assessment sample of regular drinkers, to develop models linking passive mobile sensing data with predictors of drinking episodes (such as stress, social context, and impulsiveness) and the drinking episodes themselves.
Treatment of Stress-Related Psychopathology: Targeting Maladaptive and Adaptive Event Processing
Project Duration: 07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health/CWRU
Dept. Investigator(s): Lori Zoellner
Abstract:
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Exposure to destabilizing, stressful life events is common, ranging from 50-89.5% in the U.S. population. The impact of such events is both psychological, such as anxiety and depression symptoms, and physiological, with activation of sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-cortical system. PTSD and depression both have strong etiologic links to stressful life events, share common distress-related symptoms, often co-occur (upwards of 60%), and are associated with impairment and reduction in disease-adjusted years of life.
Evidence based psychotherapies for PTSD and depression are helpful for many. However, these interventions also have significant dropout and a large minority of individuals who are left with debilitating symptoms and are vulnerability to relapse upon future stressors. Current treatments typically focus on specific disorders rather than on common mechanisms maintain psychopathology and do not target adaptive mechanisms. Decades of experimental and prospective studies have identified central maladaptive and adaptive processes associated with persistent psychopathology or recovery following stressful, destabilizing events. These processes include: 1) unproductive/constructive event processing (e.g., re-experiencing, rumination, overgeneralization); 2) avoidance/approach (e.g., blunting, disengagement) and 3) anhedonia/reward (e.g., loss of pleasure). These processes prolong negative mood, interfere with adaptive coping and processing of emotional material, and increase sensitivity to future stressful life events.
We have developed an intervention, Positive Processes and Transition to Health (PATH) that directly targets maladaptive processes (unproductive processing, avoidance, and anhedonia), while also teaching parallel adaptive skills (constructive processing, approach, and reward seeking). Six, 90-min sessions target individuals who have experienced a destabilizing life stressor and have persistent stress-related symptoms. PATH utilizes systematic event processing (revisiting, discussing), focusing repeatedly on the identified destabilizing life event, positive life events, and future events to teach adaptive processing skills. In a small open trial, we will examine whether PATH engages proposed targets. Next, we will conduct a randomized trial of PATH compared to waitlist control and assess patients over a three-month period. We are interested in improving both stressor-related psychopathology and potentially influencing stress-related markers of immune functioning and neural plasticity (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, a significant factor driving brain changes in response to and recovery from stress). Stress related psychopathology is common, impairing and very costly. Evidence based treatments leave substantial room for improvement. Our mechanism based intervention has the potential to improve outcomes and reduce burden with substantial public health impact.
Navigation with complex odor dynamics: computational principles and neural circuit implementation in mice
Project Duration: 07/01/2020 - 06/30/2025
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Dept. Investigator(s): David Gire
Abstract:
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This project studies the neural circuits in the brain that integrate and process complex sensory information to guide natural behaviors. This research will have applicability to psychiatric disorders that involve deficits in sensory integration, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. They will also provide insight into the cognitive deficits seen in pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
1/4: Improving the Part C Early Intervention Service Delivery System for Children with ASD: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Project Duration: 06/01/2020 - 05/31/2025
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Wendy Stone
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Despite strong consensus that early, specialized intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have a dramatic impact on outcomes, the public health system’s capacity to provide such services is severely challenged by the rapid rise in ASD prevalence. The goal of this research is to increase timely and equitable access to ASD-specialized early intervention during the critical first three years of life by capitalizing on the existing infrastructure of the Part C Early Intervention (EI) system, which is publicly funded and available in all U.S. States. This project will train EI providers to use an evidence-based, inexpensive, parent-mediated intervention that can improve child and family outcomes as well as mitigate the substantial economic costs associated with ASD.
Summer Institute in Neuroimaging and Data Science
Project Duration: 06/01/2017 - 02/28/2027
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Dept. Investigator(s): Ariel Rokem
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The Summer Institute in Neuroimaging and Data Science provides training in modern data science tools and methods, such as programming, data management, machine learning and data visualization. Through lectures, hands-on training sessions and team projects, it will empower scientists from a variety of backgrounds in the use of these tools in research on the human brain and on neurological and psychiatric brain disorders.
BRAINS: Broadening the Representation of Academic Investigators in NeuroSciences - A national program to increase the advancement of neuroscience researchers from diverse backgrounds
Project Duration: 12/01/2016 - 11/30/2026
Sponsor: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Dept. Investigator(s): Sheri Mizumori
Abstract:
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The BRAINS (Broadening the Representation of Academic Investigators in NeuroScience) Program, established in 2011, explicitly addresses the inclusion, retention, and advancement of early career (post Ph.D. to pre-tenure) neuroscientists from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups (URMGs: individuals from marginalized racial and ethnic identities and persons with disabilities). BRAINS has pioneered a unique cohort-based professional development approach that positively impacts participants’ career trajectories, especially in academic neuroscience, by building a community of neuroscience peers, enabling mentoring networks, activating participants’ cultural capital, and increasing participants’ career self-efficacy. The success of BRAINS is evident by our findings that 90% of the 144 participants continue to remain in neuroscience careers. Moreover, 50% are currently in tenure track positions, compared to 24% at time of joining BRAINS.
With this renewal project, Aim 1 builds on the successes of BRAINS by expanding our program through an increase in the number of the BRAINS community participants, as well as deepening the engagement of all participants with core BRAINS skills and concepts. When compared to other national professional development programs, the BRAINS program stands out in terms of the extent to which BRAINS participants continue to engage deeply with the community long after their first year in the program. In its first decade, evaluation data show that BRAINS programming is a consistent transformational and foundational resource for its participants. Thus, the BRAINS program is uniquely positioned to explore and identify the essential factors that increase retention of neuroscientists from URMGs in academic and nonacademic science careers.
Therefore, in Aim 2, we will introduce a new 10-year evaluation instrument to help us to better understand why the program is impactful and what sticks with participants as they progress through their careers. In summary, these Aims will allow BRAINS to expand in terms of participant numbers and in terms of continuing to empower over 200 neuroscientists from URMGs to thrive and advance in their careers. Further, this work will shed new light on the important factors that can improve the long term retention of neuroscientists from URMGs in science careers, which in turn can inform the development of future programs and institutional policies aimed at increasing the retention of URM scientists in biomedical careers.