The BSI has accepted ambitious challenges– first, to initiate new programs in basic neuroscience discovery, to develop a translational research program that will develop new treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases, and to focus attacks on specific diseases; and second, to integrate these efforts so that the whole is truly greater than the parts. The Johns Hopkins BSI intends to transform the areas of neuroscience and disease that it targets, and as a result to have a global influence on research and treatment in the nervous system. These goals have driven the selection of the specific research programs. The criteria have included: - The fundamental importance of the questions; - The presence of existing strength within Hopkins that can be leveraged by bringing research disciplines together; - The timeliness of the field to make rapid progress; - The potential for discoveries to affect the whole range of research from fundamental science to clinical care; - The balance among programs, so that they range from molecular to cellular to systems and circuits in the brain to complex behaviors. Five research programs have been or are being initiated: Novel Neurogenetics. Four projects are under way in this program. New Approaches to Perception and Cognition. This program contributed to the purchase of a new 7 Tesla MRI, housed in the F.M. Kirby Center within the Kennedy-Krieger Institute. Multidisciplinary working groups have met and a call for proposals went out (Call for Proposals). Thirty-four applications were received from a broad range of departments across the University and 6 grants have been awarded. Regeneration and Repair in the Nervous System. Multidisciplinary groups have been meeting and a call for proposals went out (Call for Proposals). Thirty-two applications were received from a broad range of departments across the University and 5 grants have been awarded. Research in Schizophrenia. A planning group has met and a call for proposals went out (Call for Proposals). Twenty-six applications were received from a broad range of departments across the University and 5 grants have been awarded. NeuroTranslational Program. The BSI NeuroTranslational Program was created with the mission of identifying novel drug targets arising from JHU faculty’s research and translating them into new drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
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