Project Grant R01MH142991

The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York, doing business as SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, $814,434 on August 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate molecular networks of memory maintenance and dysfunction in neural circuits.

The research examines how networks of molecules persistently modify neuronal ensembles to store long-term memory, with specific focus on the atypical protein kinase C isoform PKMζ and its interaction with the postsynaptic scaffolding protein KIBRA. The award funds elucidation of molecular networks that establish and maintain synaptic potentiation at activated synapses and how persistent synaptic tagging modifies neuronal ensembles to encode memory. Aim 1 targets identification of molecules establishing KIBRA-PKMζ coupling at activated synapses, including investigation of the actin-associated protein dendrin and protein interacting with C-kinase (PICK1), which interact with both PKMζ and AMPARS.

The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York serves as the fiscal and administrative agent; the ultimate research recipient is SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. Work is performed in Brooklyn, New York. The project period runs from August 1, 2026, through April 30, 2031. This is a Project Grant, a standard peer-reviewed NIH research mechanism supporting specified project periods not exceeding five years.