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

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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.