Project Grant R01MH140858
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory $528,000 on June 19, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to support developmental characterization of synapses between neurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells. The funded research investigates structural, functional, and molecular properties of neuron-OPC synapses, a class of synaptic connections that remain poorly understood despite evidence that oligodendrocyte precursor cells...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Scripps Research Institute $878,601 on April 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to support structural remodeling of neural circuits via multisynaptic boutons. The research uses three-dimensional electron microscopy at nanometer resolution to reconstruct neuronal connectomes, individual synapses, and glia in the mammalian brain. The work combines 3D-EM with chemogenetic techniques for labeling cellular ensembles...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $244,428 on August 20, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct research on cholinergic modulation of thalamocortical projections to prefrontal cortex in cognitive flexibility. The research will determine whether acute adult cholinergic modulation in the prefrontal cortex modulates attentional set-shifting performance and whether enhancing...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai $462,000 on August 14, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to develop a novel spatial transcriptomics platform and investigate RNA-binding protein function in human neurons as it relates to schizophrenia risk. The award funds two primary aims. The first develops a spatial RNA-protein interactome MERFISH (SPRIM) platform to visualize endogenous RNA-protein interactions at...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Leland Stanford Junior University $734,707 on August 13, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate the coordinated maturation of neurons and synapses in the adolescent human neocortex. The research develops a pipeline to retrieve and analyze tissue specimens resected during pediatric neurosurgical procedures for epilepsy, vascular malformations, or brain tumors. The study examines whether postnatal...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The McLean Hospital Corporation $463,229 on September 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate synaptic function programs in neuron-astrocyte co-cultures derived from human post-mortem brain tissue. The award funds research combining primary human astrocyte cultures and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes and neurons isolated from the same human post-mortem brain donor tissue. The research...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Johns Hopkins University $776,233 on July 2, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate noncanonical RNA splicing and liquid-liquid phase separation of SYNGAP1 as novel mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity and cognition. The project will examine the structure and function of SYNGAP1, a protein critical for glutamatergic synapse regulation and associated with intellectual disability, autism spectrum...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $534,191 on April 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to develop robust fine-mapping tools for genetic discovery in neuropsychiatric traits using deep phenotype data from diverse populations. The project addresses the challenge of understanding genetic causes of complex neuropsychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, and...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Yale University $157,388 on July 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to functionally characterize somatic mosaic variants in the brains of patients with schizophrenia and autism and determine their causal roles in neurodevelopmental disease. The funded work applies massively parallel reporter assays, CRISPR technology, and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells and post-mitotic neurons...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai $169,701 on September 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct multiomic and spatial profiling of hippocampal development and subfield specification. The research deploys single-nucleus RNA sequencing, single-nucleus ATAC sequencing, and spatial sequencing on human fetal hippocampal and neocortical tissue (gestational weeks 16–24) and human induced pluripotent stem...
The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory $897,709 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on September 1, 2026, for investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying assembly of axo-axonic synapses in the cerebral cortex. The project focuses on synaptic connectivity between excitatory pyramidal neurons and inhibitory GABAergic interneurons, specifically chandelier cells (axo-axonic cells). Chandelier cells form synapses exclusively at the axon initial segment of pyramidal neurons, the site of action potential initiation, enabling precise control over neuronal firing and population output. The research addresses a significant knowledge gap regarding the molecular processes driving subcellular formation of chandelier cell synapses, including synaptic target recognition, pre- and post-synaptic contact formation, and synapse differentiation and stabilization. The project also examines the role of microglia, the brain's immune cells, as contributors to synapse development. Defects in chandelier cell synaptic connectivity have been implicated in schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and epilepsy. Performance occurs at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York. The period of performance extends from September 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a non-profit research and education institution competing in peer-reviewed federal grant mechanisms across the National Institutes of Health and other civilian research agencies.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $897.7k | 8/31/26 |