iMAP: in vivo Mesoscale Assessment of neuro-Projectomes

1 in 3 Canadians will be affected by a nervous system illness, disorder or injury with a total estimated impact of $61 billion/year. We propose next-gen imaging tools to assess and manipulate brain circuits in animal models of human brain disorders. Animal studies are essential for better disease understanding and early development of new therapeutics. iMAP discoveries will lead to new treatments, called circuit-based therapeutics, which can be personalized to an individual’s needs. These discoveries will be enabled by iMAP’s high resolution imaging of the function and structure of projections between widely-separated brain areas bridging the current gap between exploratory preclinical work and patient imaging.  

By employing Open Science, iMAP accelerates discovery and facilitates collaborations between scientists and clinicians at the UBC Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH).  These collaborations are essential to develop new therapeutics to better the lives of British Columbians and all Canadians. iMAP is aligned with the DMCBH’s mission to have a broad impact on brain health and is poised to investigate novel therapeutics for autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, Huntington’s disease, depression, multiple sclerosis, stroke, brain injury and epilepsy.  The overall goal of iMAP is to provide data toward new treatments for neurological diseases and to train the next generation of brain scientists. 

For more information, see this review article.

iMAP Facilities

iMAP offers key facilities for four imaging techniques: