The National Institute for Health and Research, biomedical research centre, based in Maudsley, has revealed funding to support neuroimaging research and investigations into the impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented groups.
Prof. Steve Williams and Prof. Mitul Mehta, Lead and Deputy Lead of the Neuroimaging Theme invited two researchers to help shape the new funding calls, that aim to ‘energise the research community’ and ‘produce research studies’. The two calls are entitled “Reaching Out” and “Asking new questions of old data”.
Reaching Out, will focus on funding projects that will explore the impact of COVID-19 on groups who have been underrepresented. The new questions of old data theme, will support research that applies novel analytical methods to existing neuroimaging data.
Dr Ndabezinhle Mazibuko, Clinical Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) and Repurposing Lead at the Centre for Innovative Therapeutics (C-FIT) will be leading the development of the ‘Reaching Out’ call, he said: “We eagerly anticipate the new ideas that will harness evolving neuroimaging innovation to meet the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, this project is particularly exciting as it pursues crucial but often under-addressed conditions such as the mental health and cognitive sequelae to physical illness. We are further delighted that the call encourages the participation of historically under-included population groups.”
The calls for funding are open to King’s staff and students, as well as King’s Health Partner employees.
Dr Ottavia Dipasquale, Post-doctoral Research Associate at the IoPPN and member of the analysis and neuropharmacology groups at the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, is leading the development of the ‘Asking new questions of old data’ call. She said: “We are looking forward to seeing what the synergistic efforts of clinical and research teams will be able to bring in terms of using ground-breaking ideas and tools on existing neuroimaging data for the development of translational biomarkers for precision medicine. I expect that the use of cutting-edge methodologies on large existing data sets will offer a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of current research towards individualised approaches for diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.”
