Project Summary
Advances in neuroscience depend on reliable tools and technologies, including the ability to carry out functional
in vivo studies. BFNL was created within the Stanford Neuroscience Research Center to develop and centralize
vital behavioral, translational, and neuropharmacological resources and their dissemination to a broader
research community. Financial support from Stanford University and School of Medicine in the amount of 5 MM
start-up budget helped with the establishment of BFNL at its inception in 2007. BFNL is strategically equipped
with resources to provide critical support to the broadest range of research projects and to provide contracted
services and techniques to Stanford and national laboratories. BFNL provides experimental access to tools to
determine the brain function in health and disease. These experimental tools are available to scientists who may
not otherwise have access to these resources and expertise as the cost of resources necessary to run and
analyze behavioral studies is substantial. BFNL is a centralized resource for standard and automated behavioral
paradigms, state-of-the-art phenotyping services for novel transgenic lines, and expertise in the validated rodent
CNS Disease Models for testing novel neuropharmacology in translational studies. BFNL is a unique and
validated translational neuroscience resource that is available to the Stanford community as well as interested
researchers across the country with a documented history of support for 200 laboratories and more than 40
publications. Under this proposal, we will add the following instrumentation to our portfolio of equipment: 240
Digilab-Digital Ventilated Cages, 40 Metabolic cages with E-Chiller, 8+4 FreezeFrame Fear Conditioning
System, 4 Place Preference System, 4 Avoidance System, 8 Self-Administration System, 8 Microdialysis
and Syringe Pump System, and 8 Open Field Activity System. BFNL’s well-established and documented
expertise to maintain and run animal behavioral and pharmacological equipment makes it well-positioned to
obtain, distribute, facilitate, and disseminate usage of the requested equipment to the Neuroscience community
both at Stanford and beyond in a unique way that ensures widespread usage that will lead to massive success
and acceleration of translational studies. In the past 13 years, BFNL has supported numerous Stanford
laboratories with their CNS disease and translational needs, leading to therapeutic development and clinical
translation. BFNL has been instrumental in supporting innovations coming from extraordinary laboratories such
as Südhof, Shatz, Barres, and Deisseroth, who have been recognized with the prestigious Nobel, Keio, and NAS
prizes. Many other laboratories at Stanford have also benefited from BFNL’s services and expertise both at
Stanford and across the country. To continue supporting and advancing NIH-funded neuroscience research,
BFNL must continue to provide state-of-the-art technologies. This application requests funding for nine pieces
of equipment to be placed in BFNL. The requested equipment will support a specialized workflow for rodent
behavioral and neuropharmacological testing and complement the already existing core facility equipment.