Neuroscience

The Neuroscience program was launched in 2018 with a focus on neurodegenerative disease and centered on the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network (NDCN). The Challenge Network model is built on the vision that progress in solving neurodegenerative diseases will come from bringing new talent and ideas from diverse disciplines and expertise into the neurodegeneration field, building interdisciplinary collaborations, empowering the broader scientific community with robust tools and platforms, and creating a culture of innovation, collaboration, and open science.

Building on learnings and successes of the Challenge Network model, we have expanded the focus of our program from neurodegeneration to other areas of fundamental neuroscience. In addition to our ongoing focus on mechanisms of neurodegeneration, new grantees will broaden our remit to include research in areas such as cellular neuroscience, sleep biology, and circuit mechanisms for learning, memory & cognition.

DNA (blue), a nucleosome histone modification (in red) and the nuclear envelope (protein SUN1 fused to GFP in green) generated by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (Airyscan technology).

Labeling of neuronal nuclei in the adult mouse hippocampus. Photo by CZI Neuroscience grantee Angel Barco.

The Neuroscience program has funded the following RFAs:

Collaborative Science Awards, $9.5 million
Patient-Partnered Collaborations for Rare Neurodegenerative Disease, $10 million
Ben Barres Award Early Career Acceleration Awards (Cycle 1, $42.5 million and Cycle 2, $15.6 million)
Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards (Cycle 1 (Phase 1, which is inclusive of all grants, and Phase 2), $30.1 million and Cycle 2, $12.8 million)

Stylized "Learn About Our Grantees" icon of two interconnected figures beneath a diagonal ascending arrow (CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network, NDCN).

Meet the grantees

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Two women stand together, smiling at the camera, at the 2023 NDCN Annual Meeting

Members of the Neurodegeneration Challenge Network at the 2023 Annual Meeting

The Neurodegeneration Challenge Network

The CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network (NDCN) brings together experimental scientists from diverse research fields, along with computational biologists and physicians, to understand the fundamental biology of neurodegenerative disorders. Their shared aim is to develop new strategies for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative disease.

Learn About the NDCN

Closed

This RFA supports pairs of investigators and their teams to explore innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to address critical challenges in the fields of neurodegenerative diseases and fundamental neuroscience.

Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards

Cycle 1 - $30.1 Million
Cycle 2 - $12.8 million

Closed

This RFA aims to provide mentored support for early career investigators to conduct bold, innovative, and rigorous research in the basic science underlying neurodegenerative disease and fundamental neuroscience.

Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Awards

Cycle 1 - $42.5 Million
Cycle 2 - $15.6 Million

Closed

This RFA aims to advance the understanding of the pathophysiology and mechanistic underpinnings of rare neurodegenerative and neurological disorders.

Closed

As part of the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network, an interdisciplinary collaborative network that addresses fundamental issues in neurodegenerative disease biology, these are grant opportunities for small group interdisciplinary research collaborations tha... As part of the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network, an interdisciplinary collaborative network that addresses fundamental issues in neurodegenerative disease biology, these are grant opportunities for small group interdisciplinary research collaborations that include a physician with active clinical engagement.