NIH BRAIN Initiative

Funds neuroscience enablement through NIH BRAIN Initiative programs for tools, data systems, and technology that expands brain science capability.

The NIH BRAIN Initiative is a U.S. federal research initiative within the National Institutes of Health, housed under the NIH Office of the Director and co-led by NINDS and NIMH. Established in 2013, it spans 10 NIH Institutes and Centers plus OBSSR and reported $402 million in annual funding in FY2024, including base NIH support and a 21st Century Cures Act supplement scheduled to sunset after FY2026.

It funds grant activity through individual NIH institutes and centers, with programs that support new tools, recording and modulation technologies, data archives, reagent resources, and career development. The portfolio spans neurotech, hardware, medtech, biotech, AI infrastructure, and synbio, and the public program list includes BRAIN Initiative Research Grants and BRAIN Initiative Career Development and Training.

The initiative is strongest for teams building enabling technology rather than narrow disease projects. Its awards are organized across multiple NIH issuers, which keeps review tied to the underlying scientific or career mechanism and gives the program broad reach across the neuroscience ecosystem.