One Mind Rising Star Awards

• The project period for the awards is 3 years.
• The total funding for each Rising Star Research Award is $300,000, of which $100,000 will be distributed annually. Continuation of the awards for the second and third years of the research are dependent upon review of an annual progress report by the Chair of the One Mind Scientific Advisory Board and the One Mind Director of Science and Technology.
• Indirect costs are limited to a maximum of 10% and will be taken from the direct costs.
• To qualify as an early career investigator, candidates should be within 10 years of their initial independent appointment as an assistant professor for academic institutions or equivalent positions for industry or other non-academic positions. Note that postdoctoral fellows are ineligible.
• Candidates should have demonstrated productivity and innovation in a scientific field that can be applied to the study of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, suicidality, and other serious psychiatric illnesses.
• Awardees will be invited to attend One Mind’s Annual Music Festival for Brain Health activities and give a presentation about their award-winning research plans at the Music Festival’s Scientific Symposium.
• The proposal should not overlap with existing funding.
• Applicants may apply for the One Mind/Inscopix Technology Grant only as a supplement to a Rising Star Award proposal. Applicants cannot solely apply to the Technology Grant.

One Mind Rising Star Research Awards:

Proposals for studies on any of a wide range of neuropsychiatric conditions are in scope (see face sheet on the application for examples), with studies focusing on bipolar disorder of special interest, including applications that would advance therapeutics for bipolar disorder, ranging from biomarkers to promising therapeutic modalities including neurostimulation. Examples of relevant research on neuropsychiatric and/or neurotraumatic disorders include, but are not limited to studies that aim to:

• Discover biological mechanisms and therapeutic targets;
• Develop new or refine existing models and research tools;
• Identify or validate biomarkers;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of therapies, including pharmaceuticals, electroceuticals, digital therapies or cognitive and behavioral health interventions to prevent the onset or promote recovery of neuropsychiatric disorders using pre-clinical or computational models or with pilot clinical studies;
• Characterize similarities and differences between two or more neuropsychiatric or neurotraumatic disorders to advance personalized medicine;
• Improve our understanding of how comorbid conditions, such as cancer and diabetes, as well as other neurological and non-neurological disorders, interact with neuropsychiatric disorders and impact diagnosis, prognosis and treatments;
• Promote or restore brain health by conducting bi-directional and/or iterative translational research using existing clinical data or new data from small pilot clinical studies, in combination with relevant pre-clinical or computational models; or
• Advance digital health, telehealth or other innovative approaches to increasing access to mental health care.

To advance knowledge and grow the community of researchers, up to 10 proposals on bipolar disorder will also be considered to a one-time award of $10,000. The funds can be applied toward travel to the One Mind Music Festival or to other scientific meetings, to pilot studies, or to any other costs relevant to advancing research on bipolar disorder. Awards will be given to highly meritorious, runner up applications to the Rising Star Awards that have direct relevance to bipolar disorder. No indirect costs are allowed.

Applicants whose proposals can be enhanced by optical methods to investigate links between neural circuit/ensemble dynamics and disease phenotypes are within scope and encouraged to apply for this supplemental award from Inscopix. Proposals might include, but are not limited to:

• Signal analysis in health vs. disease, and/or how circuit/ensemble signatures change and evolve during disease progression an in therapeutic intervention paradigms.
• Studies that use established or new rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders to extract key characteristics of the pathophysiology in a cell type-and/or circuit-specific manner.
• Investigations into the causal role of disease circuit/ensemble dynamics identified with nVoke/nVista and potentially in conjunction with other methods such as pharmacology, chemogenetics, electrophysiology and cell ablation.

Each Technology Grant includes:

• 1 state-of-the-art nVoke miniature microscope system from Inscopix for integrated in vivo Ca⁺² imaging and optogenetics (simultaneous or sequential) in the brains of freely behaving mice. Applicants can request an nVista system in lieu of nVoke should their proposal require only Ca⁺² imaging either in the mouse brain and/or in the rat neocortex and hippocampus.
• Full scientific support including a dedicated Field Scientific Consultant for the duration of the project to provide on-site training and guidance to the awardees, from experimental design to data analysis. The award will also provide an opportunity to engage with Inscopix’s transdisciplinary team of neuroscientists, data scientists, and engineers.
• Full technical support including iCare (no questions asked repair and replacement service, for the duration of the award).

For complete details and scope parameters for the Inscopix Technology Supplement Grant, please read the 2020 Rising Star Award RFP.