The Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM) is currently administered by the UC Irvine School of Medicine (SOM) Office of Research. Leveraging their multiple NIH BRAIN Initiative Awards, other NIH grants and collaborations, SOM faculty Xiangmin Xu, Rozanne Sandri-Goldin, Todd Holmes and Bert Semler developed the Center plan which was recommended by the Dean’s Research Council and approved by the Dean on January 27, 2020.
This Center focuses on neural circuit studies and new neurotechnology development. The main aim of the Center is to advance the study of neural circuits to define mechanisms and pathways that underlie neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Understanding the brain’s neural circuitry is critical for successful translational progress in better treating these diseases. Given the increasingly inter-disciplinary nature of neural circuit analysis, this Center will emphasize collaborative inclusion of Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Computer Science faculty on Campus.
One critical component of the Center is the creation of a viral production facility to disseminate to the worldwide neuroscience community new molecular tools developed by the Center investigators funded by BRAIN Initiative awards. This Center facility will also support UCI basic and clinical investigators using viral genetic tools, and locally serve the UC Irvine research community by custom-making genetically modified AAV, lentivirus, rabies and herpes viruses, etc. on a recharge basis.
The CNCM membership is potentially available to all UC Irvine faculty and faculty at partner institutions. More than 100 faculty members have joined the Center, including those from UC Irvine, US national, and international institutions. We expect that the establishment of this Center will improve our research and competitive edge for large scale funding and help to raise our institutional profile and the success of our neuroscience faculty.
News
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- New Publication Alert: Advancing Neural Circuit Mapping Through Viral-genetic Tool DevelopmentWe are excited to share our latest research publication in Cell Reports Methods: “An AAV capsid proposed as microglia-targeting directs genetic expression in forebrain excitatory neurons”…Continue Reading New Publication Alert: Advancing Neural Circuit Mapping Through Viral-genetic Tool Development
- 5 Days Left! Register Now for the 2025 Conference: ‘The Changing Brain’ – Deadline May 19, 2025Please join us in our exciting in-person conference on “The Changing Brain,” co-sponsored by the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM), Cajal Club and Allen…Continue Reading 5 Days Left! Register Now for the 2025 Conference: ‘The Changing Brain’ – Deadline May 19, 2025
- Exciting Career Opportunity: Research Scientist & Postdoctoral Scholar Positions Available at the University of California, IrvineThe University of California, Irvine (UCI) is currently seeking qualified candidates for multiple positions in its dynamic neuroscience research team. UCI’s Center for Neural Circuit Mapping…Continue Reading Exciting Career Opportunity: Research Scientist & Postdoctoral Scholar Positions Available at the University of California, Irvine
- Registration is open for the 2025 Conference: ‘The Changing Brain’ – Deadline May 19, 2025Please join us in our exciting in-person conference on “The Changing Brain,” co-sponsored by the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM), Cajal Club and Allen…Continue Reading Registration is open for the 2025 Conference: ‘The Changing Brain’ – Deadline May 19, 2025
- UC Irvine-led study reveals new insights into how we navigate space and store memoriesIrvine, Calif., Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers led by the University of California, Irvine are the first to reveal how two neural circuits located in the…Continue Reading UC Irvine-led study reveals new insights into how we navigate space and store memories