2026 Projects

The 2026 BBI seed grant projects bring together researchers from across campus to tackle complementary questions about how the brain functions and adapts. Using a mix of computational analysis and cutting-edge tools from the BBI’s Advanced Genomic Technology and Small Animal MRI cores, the teams will probe how learning is guided by shared neural signals, how neurons with complex activity patterns can be revealed through changes in gene expression, and how psilocybin alters large-scale brain networks depending on context and brain state. Together, the three projects involve six UMCP faculty members spanning multiple departments and research institutes.

Profiling neurons with complex response properties via light-induced transcriptome signatures

  • Scott Juntti (BIOL)

  • Rob Patro (CS)

Despite the proliferation of powerful imaging tools that read out neural activity of individual neurons, our ability to bind response properties to molecular profiles is limited. This project develops tools to bioinformatically infer molecular identities of cells identified through optical means.

A common neural currency for learning

  • Evan Hart (PSYC)

  • Behtash Babadi (ECE)

The grant will determine whether there is a common neural currency for learning, addressing the questions of whether whole-brain functional dynamics are similar to neuronal spiking ensembles and whether dynamics generalize across sensory modalities.

Stimulus- and State-Dependence of Brain Network Dynamics During Psilocybin Treatment in Mice

  • Nik Francis (BIOL)
  • Nan Xu (BIOE)

Psychedelics such as psilocybin are thought to produce rapid and lasting therapeutic benefits through serotonergic receptor-mediated modulation of brain function, yet the effects of psilocybin on auditory brain networks remain poorly understood. Using the BBI small animal MRI facility and advanced models of brain dynamics, this project examines how psilocybin alters resting-state and sound-evoked neural activity, providing insight into how psychedelics affect brain-wide network plasticity.


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