Pediatric Brain Map Consortium

This project will construct a cellular atlas of the developing human brain. The group will begin by targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) to align an already completed atlas of the adult human, mouse, and marmoset recently completed by the Cell Census Network (BICCN) of the NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The developmental atlas will profile the same modalities (i.e., snRNA/ATACseq) within M1 at infancy, childhood, and early adolescence, and map and quantify gene expression across space and time at subcellular resolution.

The scale and scope of the challenge is large, requiring a collaborative multidisciplinary team. Researchers will dissect tissues from flash-frozen brains for snRNAseq and snATACseq, large area single-molecule spatial transcriptomic (LaST), and high multiplexed spatial sequencing. The team will produce an interactive single-cell genome and spatial browser so datasets are accessible across sites and to the wider scientific community. The resulting high-resolution maps will provide an unprecedented view of the developing brain to chart and identify human-specific features relevant to neurodevelopment and disease.