WU-SMAC Pilot Funding Application

SUMMARY

Issuing Organization: Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center in conjunction with the McDonnell Center
Funding Opportunity Title: Pilot for Advancing Scalable Phenotyping of Neurodevelopmental and Psychological Risk Genes
Announcement Date: December 3^rd, 2025
Application Due Date: January 16^th, 2026
Anticipated Start Date: February 20^th, 2026
Award Size: roughly $30,000 per project
Number of Awards Anticipated: 4

Purpose

As part of our mission to advance scalable tools for interrogating gene function relevant to neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders (NPDs), the Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center (WU-SMAC), in partnership with the McDonnell Centers, is launching a pilot funding initiative to support innovative, early-stage research on the functional impacts of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric risk genes. This initiative aims to catalyze cross-disciplinary collaborations and seed projects that develop or apply multiscale phenotyping approaches—including cellular, molecular, and behavioral analyses—in genetically modified mouse models or related experimental platforms.

Pilot awards are intended to provide flexible, short-term funding that enables researchers to generate preliminary data, validate scalable assays, or explore new hypotheses that could lead to larger, externally funded projects. Proposals that align with WU-SMAC’s core capabilities (e.g., high-throughput behavioral pipelines, genomics, multimodal data integration) or that seek to test novel technologies in other domains that may lead to additional scalable phenotyping contexts are especially encouraged.

Eligibility Information

Eligible applicants should be employed or in training at Washington University in St. Louis. WashU faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and senior graduate students (i.e., passed thesis proposal) will all be considered eligible to apply for these funds. Trainees will need to demonstrate faculty mentor sponsorship. Faculty and trainees already affiliated with WU-SMAC labs are not eligible.

Administrative Awarding Details

Funds will be awarded via one or both McDonnell centers. For trainees, funds will be managed under the typical administrative mechanisms of their faculty mentor.

Application Materials

A full application will consist of the following materials, merged into a single pdf, in the following order:

·      Cover Page (1 page total)

o   Project Title

o   PI name and job title

o   Key personnel list

o   IACUC approval number, or pending (if using live mice):

o   Requested funds amount and budget justification (1/2 page maximum)

·      Proposal (maximum of 2 pages). Sections:

o   Specific Aim(s)

§  In NIH style format, describe the goal(s) of your pilot.

o   Approach

§  Provide specific details of how the aim(s) will be achieved.

o   Timeline for experiments (maximum, of 1 paragraph, or a graphic)

§  Should be <= 1 year total.

o   Use of WU-SMAC resources (maximum of 1 paragraph, optional)

§  If needed, describe how your project utilizes WU-SMAC resources, for example:

·      Existing data for reanalysis with new approaches

·      Banked brain tissue from existing mouse cohorts. Which lines and how much?

·      Additional non-brain tissues (e.g., spinal cords, DRGs, eyes, kidneys, etc.) harvested by pilot awardee’s team concurrent with ongoing dissections. Do you need excess brain or body tissue from us? Which lines, which tissues, how much/many?

·      Breeding colonies for any lines alive in our colony. And, which lines, how much?

·      Excess live mice, as available, for lines alive in our colony

§  More information about resources, banked tissue, current gene list, live mouse lines, can be found on our website.

o   Future Scalability and Integration (maximum of 1 paragraph)

§  How do you foresee your project scaling beyond this pilot to better understand neurodevelopmental disorder or psychiatric disease?

§  How would you like to integrate, if possible, into larger WU-SMAC efforts, and what support would you need to do so?

o   Plans for future funding and/or publication (maximum of 1 paragraph)

§  What are the plans past year 1 to share findings, or develop further support to continue or expand the project?

·      Additional Figures (maximum of 1 additional page)

·      References (no page limit)

·      Biosketches of key personnel.

o   Trainees must include their biosketch and a biosketch of their faculty member.

§  For trainees that do not have an NIH style biosketch already, a CV can be substituted.

o   Trainees should also include a signed letter from a faculty mentor indicating they are aware of and supportive of the project (1 paragraph max). If they are a student, the letter should also indicate if they have passed their thesis proposal.

·      Other support of key personnel (for faculty and faculty mentors)

Additional Information

Pilots aimed at assay scalability across multiple genes will be prioritized over pilots that focus on the impacts of a single or small number of genes. We hope that the technologies or approaches you are testing will help to meet the long-term goal of the SSPsyGene consortium which funds us (RM1MH138313). We are happy to consider proposals to incorporate your approaches into the larger pipeline, especially as part of future applications.

To acquire future funding for this important work, we will enthusiastically support your teams’ future R01 applications that may leverage WU-SMAC resources. We will also consider collaborations with you around future supplements to the existing WU-SMAC grant, if such opportunities are posted by NIH. Finally, we hope to collaborate with and support other applications (e.g., to future SSPsyGene, BRAINS initiative, or Foundation funds) as opportunities emerge.

Reporting Requirements

Any funded proposals will be expected to assemble bi-annual progress reports of 1 page and a 15-minute presentation at a WU-SMAC All Team meeting. Awardees will also be invited to present at our WU-SMAC yearly seminar.

Publications resulting from this funding must cite the parent award (RM1MH138313), acknowledge all WU-SMAC researchers involved in the research, and acknowledge the McDonnell Centers.

 

Submission Instructions

Submit by email to "WU-SMAC" <wusmac@wustl.edu> by midnight CT, January 16^th, as a single merged PDF (e.g., PI_name.pdf), cc’ing any faculty mentors or other key personnel.

Review Criteria

This cycle we are particularly, but not exclusively, interested in projects related to Systems Neuroscience.

 

Applications will be reviewed by the WU-SMAC administrative team and will be judged by the following criteria.

Scientific Rationale and Significance

Relevance to NPD Research: Does the study address a meaningful question related to the molecular or behavioral phenotypes of NPDs? Or have the opportunity to open new lines of research into additional domains?

Novelty: Does the proposal explore a new question, hypothesis, method, or analysis not addressed in the parent project and/or the field as a whole?

Impact: Could the findings lead to future research directions and new projects at WashU?

Alignment with WU-SMAC Goals

Complementarity: Does the pilot project add value or harmonize with the broader goals of the SSPsyGene Consortium?

Feasibility and Methodological Rigor

Practicality Within Resource Constraints: Can the project be realistically completed using the available resources, proposed budget, and timeframe?

Experimental Design and Technical Soundness: Are the proposed experiments clearly defined and thought through, with appropriate controls and sample size?

Potential for Future Funding or Publication

Prospective Funding and Scalability: Will the pilot generate data that would support future external funding or larger studies?

Potential for Publication: Could the work result in a standalone publication and/or contribute to high-impact outputs from the parent project?

 

Sample Project Focus Areas

We envision a variety of possible computational, molecular, anatomical, or behavioral project areas that would be responsive, such as (but not limited to):

·      Use of the dyadic social interaction or individual behavior videos to develop machine learning and computer vision models for behavior detection to detect new phenotypes or improve sensitivity or interpretation of genetic deficits.

·      Development an application of new algorithms for spatial transcriptomics in the nervous system (e.g. automated region annotation, cell segmentation methods, cellular composition analysis, transcript).

·      Integration of spatial transcriptomics with add-on post-run analysis of brain tissue sections (e.g. Immunohistochemical analysis, proteomics, metabolomics, histone mass spect, etc.).

·      Use of banked brains or spare mice for analysis of social- or cognition-relevant circuits with new approaches (e.g, brain clearing, fos staining, novel approaches for connectomics).

·      Applications of novel brain wide imaging approaches on banked specimens or live mice to phenotype morphological, functional, or circuit differences in autism model mice.

·      Novel, scalable, physiological approaches for assessing circuit function.

·      The development of new scalable behavioral tasks or other methods that could eventually integrate into WU-SMAC or serve as the basis for stand alone collaborative grants.

·      The deep characterization of tissues or domains not currently included in the WU-SMAC process.

·      The development of new scalable approaches to single cell ‘omics that could be integrated with existing data or serve as spin off or stand alone grants. 

·      Testing of potential biomarkers in blood or other tissues across numerous models of autism genetic risk.

·      Testing of potential therapeutics on numerous models of autism genetic risk.

·      Adding additional alleles or single risk genes currently not included in the project may be considered responsive, if well justified or leading to scalable approaches.

·      Examination of EEG biomarkers of NPD genes using spare WU-SMAC mice.

·      Investigation of neuromuscular phenotypes in mice with NPD gene mutations.

 

 

WU-SMAC Pilot Funding Application

SUMMARY

Issuing Organization: Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center in conjunction with the McDonnell Center
Funding Opportunity Title: Pilot for Advancing Scalable Phenotyping of Neurodevelopmental and Psychological Risk Genes
Announcement Date: May 15, 2025
Application Due Date: July 15, 2025
Anticipated Start Date: August 15, 2025
Award Size: up to $25,000 per project
Number of Awards Anticipated: 4 or more

Purpose

As part of our mission to advance scalable tools for interrogating gene function relevant to neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders (NPDs), the Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center (WU-SMAC), in partnership with the McDonnell Centers, is launching a pilot funding initiative to support innovative, early-stage research on the functional impacts of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric risk genes. This initiative aims to catalyze cross-disciplinary collaborations and seed projects that develop or apply multiscale phenotyping approaches—including cellular, molecular, and behavioral analyses—in genetically modified mouse models or related experimental platforms.

Pilot awards are intended to provide flexible, short-term funding that enables researchers to generate preliminary data, validate scalable assays, or explore new hypotheses that could lead to larger, externally funded projects. Proposals that align with WU-SMAC’s core capabilities (e.g., high-throughput behavioral pipelines, genomics, multimodal data integration) or that seek to test novel technologies in other domains that may lead to additional scalable phenotyping contexts are especially encouraged.

Eligibility Information

Eligible applicants should be employed or in training at Washington University in St. Louis. WashU faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and senior graduate students (i.e., passed thesis proposal) will all be considered eligible to apply for these funds. Trainees will need to demonstrate faculty mentor sponsorship. Faculty and trainees already affiliated with WU-SMAC labs are not eligible.

Administrative Awarding Details

Funds will be awarded via one or both McDonnell centers. For trainees, funds will be managed under the typical administrative mechanisms of their faculty mentor.

Application Materials

A full application will consist of the following materials, merged into a single pdf, in the following order:

·      Cover Page (1 page total)

o   Project Title

o   PI name and job title

o   Key personnel list

o   IACUC approval number, or pending (if using live mice):

o   Requested funds amount and budget justification (1/2 page maximum)

·      Proposal (maximum of 2 pages). Sections:

o   Specific Aim(s)

§  In NIH style format, describe the goal(s) of your pilot.

o   Approach

§  Provide specific details of how the aim(s) will be achieved.

o   Timeline for experiments (maximum, of 1 paragraph, or a graphic)

§  Should be <= 1 year total.

o   Use of WU-SMAC resources (maximum of 1 paragraph, optional)

§  If needed, describe how your project utilizes WU-SMAC resources, for example:

·      Existing data for reanalysis with new approaches

·      Banked brain tissue from existing mouse cohorts. Which lines and how much?

·      Additional non-brain tissues (e.g., spinal cords, DRGs, eyes, kidneys, etc.) harvested concurrent with ongoing dissections. Do you need excess brain or body tissue from us? Which lines, which tissues, how much/many?

·      Breeding colonies for any lines alive in our colony. And, which lines, how much?

·      Excess live mice, as available, for lines alive in our colony

§  More information about resources, banked tissue, current gene list, live mouse lines, can be found on our website.

o   Future Scalability and Integration (maximum of 1 paragraph)

§  How do you foresee your project scaling beyond this pilot to better understand neurodevelopmental disorder or psychiatric disease?

§  How would you like to integrate, if possible, into larger WU-SMAC efforts, and what support would you need to do so?

o   Plans for future funding and/or publication (maximum of 1 paragraph)

§  What are the plans past year 1 to share findings, or develop further support to continue or expand the project?

·      Additional Figures (maximum of 1 additional page)

·      References (no page limit)

·      Biosketches of key personnel.

o   Biosketches should be included for all PIs and key collaborators.

o   Trainees must include their biosketch and a biosketch of their faculty member.

§  For trainees that do not have an NIH style biosketch already, a CV can be substituted.

o   Trainees should also include a signed letter from a faculty mentor indicating they are aware of and supportive of the project (1 paragraph max). If they are a student, the letter should also indicate if they have passed their thesis proposal.

·      Other support of key personnel (for faculty and faculty mentors)

Additional Information

Pilots aimed at assay scalability across multiple genes will be prioritized over pilots that focus on the impacts of a single or small number of genes. We hope that the technologies or approaches you are testing will help to meet the long-term goal of the SSPsyGene consortium which funds us (RM1MH138313). We are happy to consider proposals to incorporate your approaches into the larger pipeline, especially as part of future applications.

To acquire future funding for this important work, we will enthusiastically support your teams’ future R01 applications that may leverage WU-SMAC resources. We will also consider collaborations with you around future supplements to the existing WU-SMAC grant, if such opportunities are posted by NIH. Finally, we hope to collaborate with and support other applications (e.g., to future SSPsyGene, BRAINS initiative, or Foundation funds) as opportunities emerge.

Reporting Requirements

Any funded proposals will be expected to assemble bi-annual progress reports of 1 page and a 15-minute presentation at a WU-SMAC All Team meeting. Awardees will also be invited to present at our WU-SMAC yearly seminar.

Publications resulting from this funding must cite the parent award (RM1MH138313), include relevant co-authors, acknowledge all WU-SMAC researchers involved in the research, and acknowledge the McDonnell Centers.

Submission Instructions

Submit by email to "WU-SMAC" <wusmac@wustl.edu> by midnight CT, July 15^th, as a single merged PDF (e.g., PI_name.pdf), cc’ing any faculty mentors or other key personnel.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by the WU-SMAC administrative team and will be judged by the following criteria.

Scientific Rationale and Significance

Relevance to NPD Research: Does the study address a meaningful question related to the molecular or behavioral phenotypes of NPDs? Or have the opportunity to open new lines of research into additional domains?

Novelty: Does the proposal explore a new question, hypothesis, method, or analysis not addressed in the parent project and/or the field as a whole?

Impact: Could the findings lead to future research directions and new projects at WashU?

Alignment with WU-SMAC Goals

Complementarity: Does the pilot project add value or harmonize with the broader goals of the SSPsyGene Consortium?

Feasibility and Methodological Rigor

Practicality Within Resource Constraints: Can the project be realistically completed using the available resources, proposed budget, and timeframe?

Experimental Design and Technical Soundness: Are the proposed experiments clearly defined and thought through, with appropriate controls and sample size?

Potential for Future Funding or Publication

Prospective Funding and Scalability: Will the pilot generate data that would support future external funding or larger studies?

Potential for Publication: Could the work result in a standalone publication and/or contribute to high-impact outputs from the parent project?

Sample Project Focus Areas

We envision a variety of possible computational, molecular, anatomical, or behavioral project areas that would be responsive, such as (but not limited to):

·      Use of the dyadic social interaction or individual behavior videos to develop machine learning and computer vision models for behavior detection to detect new phenotypes or improve sensitivity or interpretation of genetic deficits.

·      Development of an application of new algorithms for spatial transcriptomics in the nervous system (e.g. automated region annotation, cell segmentation methods, cellular composition analysis, transcript).

·      Integration of spatial transcriptomics with add-on post-run analysis of brain tissue sections (e.g. Immunohistochemical analysis, proteomics, metabolomics, histone mass spect, etc.).

·      Use of banked brains or spare mice for analysis of social- or cognition-relevant circuits with new approaches (e.g, brain clearing, fos staining, novel approaches for connectomics).

·      Applications of novel brain wide imaging approaches on banked specimens or live mice to phenotype morphological, functional, or circuit differences in autism model mice.

·      Novel, scalable, physiological approaches for assessing circuit function.

·      The development of new scalable behavioral tasks or other methods that could eventually integrate into WU-SMAC or serve as the basis for stand alone collaborative grants.

·      The deep characterization of tissues or domains not currently included in the WU-SMAC process.

·      The development of new scalable approaches to single cell ‘omics that could be integrated with existing data or serve as spin off or stand alone grants.

·      Testing of potential biomarkers or therapeutics across numerous models of autism genetic risk.

·      Adding additional alleles or single risk genes currently not included in the project may be considered responsive, if well justified or leading to scalable approaches.