Neuroscience

This innovative 4-year project will convene a national Working Group of top neuroethics, neurolaw, and neuroscience experts to conduct empirical research and generate evidence-based consensus recommendations for the ethical conduct of research using highly portable, cloud-enabled MRI with new and diverse populations in field settings. Highly-portable MRI, a transformative technology supported by the NIH BRAIN Initiative, will allow researchers to conduct population-based neuroscience research and will accelerate research on brain biomarkers. As portable MRI develops quickly, guidance is urgently needed on unresolved ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI). This project builds on two NIH Administrative Supplements that have preliminarily identified the most pressing unresolved ELSI issues.
This Administrative Supplement for Research on Bioethical Issues, SU01EB025153-03S1, extended the integration of senior bioethics personnel into the parent grant’s (1U01EB025153-01, Garwood, parent grant PI) development of a highly portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device.
This administrative supplement proposes to integrate neuroethics analysis into the development of small and highly portable MRI devices. The supplement entails the addition of three senior key personnel and will involve collaborative development of publications on the ethical issues and potential solutions.
This project analyzed highly related and convergent science to see how law has been affected. It then normatively evaluated changes and adaptations in legal doctrine and practice already under way. This project aimed to influence the future development of legal practice, doctrine, and theory on neuroscience and neurogenomics.
This award helped fund a conference, "Emerging Problems in Neurogenomics: Ethical, Legal & Policy Issues at the Intersection of Genomics & Neuroscience" involving top experts from around the country.

Related Publications

Kimberly WT, Sorby-Adams AJ, Webb AG, Wu EX, Beekman R, Bowry R, Schiff SJ, de Havenon A, Shen FX, Sze G, Schaefer P, Iglesias JE, Rosen MS, Seth KN. Brain Imaging With Portable Low-Field MRI. Nature Reviews Bioengineering 2023;1:617–630.
Shen FX, Wolf SM, Bhavnani S, Deoni S, Elison JT, Fair D, Garwood M, Gee MS, Geethanath S, Kay K, Lim KO, Estrin GL, Luciana M, Peloquin D, Rommelfanger K, Schiess N, Siddiqui K, Torres E, Vaughan JT. Emerging Ethical Issues Raised by Highly Portable MRI Research in Remote and Resource-limited International Settings. NeuroImage 2021;238:118210. Download PDF (1.97 MB)
Shen FX, Wolf SM, Gonzalez RG, Garwood M. Ethical Issues Posed by Field Research Using Highly Portable and Cloud-Enabled Neuroimaging. Neuron 2020;105(5):771-775. Download PDF (905.91 KB)
Karkkainen BC. Does Nanobiotechnology Oversight Present a Uniquely Complex Challenge to Interagency Cooperation?. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 2011;13(4):1419-1425. Download PDF (137.45 KB)