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Broadening access with an Armamentarium Vector Core Powered by Inclusive Research Experiences

Award Number: U24MH131054
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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Broadening access with an Armamentarium Vector Core Powered by Inclusive Research Experiences - PROJECT SUMMARY The AAV BRAIN Safe and Effective Neuromodulator and Sensor Utilization across Species (SENSUS, led by Caltech) of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium Project will develop, validate, and disseminate integrated (capsid and genome) engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) tools to monitor and manipulate molecularly defined neuronal cell types across vertebrate species. To broaden access to these reagents within the neuroscientific community, we propose a close partnership between the AAV BRAIN SENSUS and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP), which will host a new Armamentarium Vector Core (ArmVC). This collaboration will also increase access to the research community itself for underrepresented minorities (URM) and minority-serving institutions (MSI), as CPP is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution that also serves large populations of Pell-eligible, first-generation, and African American students. This partnership will foster close interfacing between experts in AAV engineering for neuroscience (PI Gradinaru), AAV production innovations and dissemination (PI Miles), and URM undergraduate research and mentoring (Co-I Steele) to build the physical and human infrastructure for AAV production, validation, and dissemination at CPP while comprehensively integrating MSI undergraduates. Caltech’s CLOVER Center (directed by PI Miles) will utilize their experience in running a successful AAV dissemination center to work with Co-I Steele and Damien Wolfe, M.S., a CPP and Steele lab alum and CLOVER technician who will work at ArmVC, to establish robust AAV production and dissemination capabilities in the ArmVC at CPP (Aim 1). CLOVER and ArmVC will cooperatively run a new AAV BRAIN SENSUS Program for Inclusive Research Experience (ASPIRE) wherein CPP undergraduate students chosen as ASPIRE Scientists will produce validated AAV for dissemination to the neuroscience community as part of the new ArmVC (Aim 2) and work in Co-I Steele’s lab to independently validate, using immunohistochemistry, the novel AAV identified via high-throughput methods in PI Gradinaru’s lab (Aim 3). ASPIRE Scientists will benefit from activities including workshops, poster presentations, research seminars, and career-focused mentoring meetings with PI Gradinaru at CPP and Caltech. Yearly training (and re-training of returning staff and undergraduates) in AAV production by CLOVER staff will ensure that methodological advances in AAV production, purification, and characterization developed or adopted by the CLOVER center are quickly transferred between sites. ArmVC offerings will be publicized and disseminated through a stand-alone website while also being integrated into AAV BRAIN SENSUS electronic resources for seamless reagent cataloguing and feedback. With strong quality control and quality assurance processes in place and overseen by CLOVER, the ArmVC at CPP will broaden access to modern neuroscientific tools and help bridge the gap in URM career progression in research science.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2024	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	12/5/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $595,379 )
2024	2024	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	3	7/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2024	2024	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	6/24/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$595,379
														Subtotal = $595,379

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $644,868 )
2023	2023	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	6/19/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$489,216
2023	2023	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	2	8/28/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$155,652
2023	2022	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	1/26/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $644,868

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $616,145 )
2022	2022	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	8/1/2022	NEW	$616,145
2022	2022	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1200 E CALIFORNIA BLVD	PASADENA	CA	91125	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	8/8/2022	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $616,145

Grand Total All Awards = $1,856,392

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Broadening access with an Armamentarium Vector Core Powered by Inclusive Research Experiences

Award Number: U24MH131054

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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