Planning Grant: Collaborative Research: I/UCRC for Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology (BRAIN)

该项目将汇集来自亚利桑那州立大学和休斯顿大学的团队，与行业合作伙伴合作建立一个名为BRAIN（在神经技术中建立可靠的进步和创新）的研究中心，该中心将克服神经技术中的几个创新挑战：1)创新的速度超过了可接受性能的评估速度；2)缺乏安全性、有效性和长期可靠性严格验证的标准和监管科学；3)缺乏对技术的开放获取和协同合作阻碍了新技术向市场的转移；4)目前的技术价格昂贵，限制了它们在加强治疗和克服身体残疾方面的效用。此外，通过教育/外展协调员的努力，BRAIN中心将通过以下方式来扩大新的参与和留住现有的STEM参与者：1)新启动的K-12外展计划，让有抱负的STEM参与者接触创新的神经技术；2)中心内针对特定学生组织的本科生实习计划(例如，墨西哥裔美国工程师和科学家协会，女性工程师协会)，以及3)关注神经学领域的问题，这些问题不成比例地影响着未被充分代表的群体。该中心的愿景是一个协同的，跨学科的方法来开发和验证负担得起的以患者为中心的技术，并使用这些技术来理解神经系统。BRAIN将利用亚利桑那州立大学（ASU）和休斯顿大学（UH）在神经、认知和康复工程、机器人、临床测试和逆向转化研究方面的专业知识，通过与行业领导者和其他战略合作伙伴的合作，提高新技术的开发速度和经验验证；(b)使用从单个神经元到组织系统的多尺度方法，在人类和非人类模型中制定标准和测试技术；(c)描述新颖和创新的技术，如生物传感器和系统和行为的定量分析工具；(d)评价这些技术对生活质量的影响；(e)减轻医院和家庭的神经技术成本负担。

This project will bring together teams from Arizona State University and University of Houston in collaboration with industry partners to establish a research center, called BRAIN (Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology) that will overcome several innovation challenges in neurotechnology: 1) The pace of innovation exceeds the rate of evaluation for acceptable performance; 2) Standards and regulatory science for rigorous validation of safety, efficacy, and long-term reliability are missing; 3) Lack of open access to technologies and synergistic collaborations impede transfer of novel technologies to the market; and 4) Current technologies are costly, limiting their utility in enhancing treatment and overcoming physical disabilities. In addition, the BRAIN Center, through the efforts of the Education/Outreach coordinator, will work to rectify under-representation in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by broadening new participation and retaining current participants in STEM through 1) newly initiated K-12 outreach programs that expose aspiring STEM participants to innovative neurotechnologies, 2) undergraduate internship program within the Center that targets specific student organizations (e.g., Society of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists, Society of Women Engineers), and 3) focusing on problems in the neurological space that affect underrepresented groups disproportionately. The Center's vision is a synergistic, interdisciplinary approach to the development and validation of affordable patient-centered technologies, and use of those technologies in understanding neural systems. BRAIN will leverage expertise in neural, cognitive and rehabilitation engineering, robotics, clinical testing, and reverse-translational research at Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Houston (UH) to (a) enhance the rate of development and empirical validation of new technologies through partnerships with industry leaders and other strategic partners; (b) develop standards and test technologies in human and non-human models using a multi-scale approach ranging from single neurons to organismal systems; (c) characterize novel and innovative technologies such as biosensors and quantitative analysis tools for systems and behaviors; (d) evaluate the impact of these technologies on quality of life; and (e) reduce the cost burden of neural technologies on hospitals and families.