Project Grant R01MH144052
- 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 Neurological Disorders and Stroke, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $205,200 on August 15, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853). The award funds research into the role of microglia in cortical interneuron development in genetic and environmental disruptions associated with autism spectrum disorder. The work...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $832,307 on April 24, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to support research into the genetic control of basal telencephalic development and the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms governing forebrain GABAergic neuron differentiation. The research addresses dysregulation of basal ganglia and cortical development as a central factor in epilepsy,...
- The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $117,747 on August 15, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853) to examine SCN2A loss of function in sensory perception and its relationship to autism spectrum disorder pathophysiology. The project investigates how haploinsufficiency of SCN2A—the gene most strongly associated with autism spectrum...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of California, Los Angeles $772,569 on August 17, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct highly parallel analysis of high-confidence autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia risk gene mechanisms. The recipient will study approximately 50 risk genes identified as harboring rare, protein-disrupting heterozygous mutations associated with these neuropsychiatric disorders. The work leverages a...
- 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, National Institutes of Health awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $117,747 on June 1, 2026 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) for functional characterization of schizophrenia-related risk genes and variants in neurogenesis using cerebral organoids. The project investigates how schizophrenia-associated genetic variants disrupt neurogenesis, the developmental process by which neurons form in the...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded $442,750 to the University of California, Davis on July 1, 2026 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate synaptic plasticity and signaling mechanisms in 22Q11.2 deletion syndrome model mice. The research addresses learning and memory deficits in 22Q11.2 deletion syndrome, the most common chromosomal microdeletion in humans (incidence approximately 1 in 4,000 live births), which presents broad symptoms including...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded University of California, Los Angeles $764,785 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on July 16, 2026, to investigate context-dependent disease mechanisms in neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically the 16p11.2 chromosomal deletion (16PDEL) implicated in autism, intellectual disability, and ADHD. The project will use a proprietary in vitro human stem cell platform called the Cell Village to conduct high-throughput...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Washington University $147,268 on February 15, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate the function of autism spectrum disorder risk genes RFX3 and RFX4 during human cortical development. The research examines how pathogenic mutations in the genes encoding regulatory factor X3 and X4 transcription factors contribute to autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The investigator...
The National Institute of Mental Health awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) $568,746 on August 11, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate the cellular mechanisms by which autism-associated protein SYNGAP1 functions at the primary cilium. The funded research tests the hypothesis that autism spectrum disorder risk genes play pleiotropic roles across subcellular compartments, including functionally significant roles at the cilium. Preliminary studies demonstrate that SYNGAP1, one of the most common monogenic causes of autism, localizes to cilia and is required for their formation; individuals with SYNGAP1 mutations exhibit reduced nasal nitric oxide, a biomarker of motile cilia dysfunction. The project includes two specific aims: Aim 1 will determine how SYNGAP1 gene dosage affects ciliogenesis and signaling in human neural progenitor cells prior to synapse formation, with downstream consequences for proliferation, differentiation, and Hedgehog pathway activation. Aim 2 will examine how SYNGAP1 localizes to and regulates local signaling through neuronal primary cilia, including the role of specific domains, isoforms, and GTPase intermediates in modulating ciliary signaling. The period of performance runs through April 30, 2031, with place of performance in San Francisco, California. This award is a Project Grant, with support for a specified project period not in excess of five years as defined by the program.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $568.7k | 8/13/26 |