The UW Neuroethics Research Group recently received a new NIH R01 grant in neuroethics (1R01MH130457), “Caring for BRAIN Pioneers: Understanding and enhancing family and research support in neural device trials” under the leadership of co-PIs Sara Goering and Eran Klein. This is a four-year, $1.3M grant that will include funding for a philosophy research assistant and a postdoctoral scholar. The project summary: “BRAIN pioneers are people who take on significant risk as participants in first-in-human or early neurotechnology studies for the sake of helping to further science. Their willingness to try invasive and non-medically necessary devices, their investments of significant time and energy, and their close relationships with study teams, typically built over 3-5 years of intensive experiments, make them relatively unique as research participants, yet relatively little neuroethical attention has been focused on the structures of support, from researchers and family members, that enable BRAIN pioneers to successfully participate in neural device trials. This study will identify forms of family and researcher support that are integral to the well-being of BRAIN pioneers, and produce recommendations for best practices that will help shape future trials and contribute to a smooth translation into the clinical sphere.” If you are interested in finding out more about this new research project, please contact Sara Goering (sgoering@uw.edu).