Rutgers Brain Health Institute

06/17/2026

The CNS Clinical Trials Event at the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) within the Rutgers Brain Health Institute concluded on June 11, gathering over 30 attendees from leading pharma companies and Rutgers University leaders, investigators, and clinical research teams.

The event highlighted advancing CNS research through academic–industry collaboration, showcasing Rutgers’ infrastructure for industry-sponsored CNS clinical trials, patient recruitment, regulatory support, advanced imaging at CAHBIR, and opportunities to connect with Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health experts.

Grateful for such meaningful conversations to accelerate innovation in CNS therapeutics! Thank you to all attendees from Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Company, Eisai Inc., GE Healthcare, Tris Pharma, Inc., Zena Therapeutics, and C2N Diagnostics for joining us!

Learn more about CAHBIR’s services in the brochure:https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CAHBIR-Capabilities-Brochure_2026.pdf

06/16/2026

💡 Check out the June Featured Funding Opportunities from the Rutgers Brain Health Institute!

We’ve curated a selection of federal (NIH) and non-federal (private and nonprofit) opportunities relevant to , , and research. 🔗 https://conta.cc/4vJ1nFw

Explore the full list on our website and find the next opportunity to support your research! 🔗 https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/funding-opportunities-rfas/

Rutgers University

Email from Rutgers Brain Health Institute       Funding Opportunities The Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) shares a monthly Funding Opportunities newsletter, featuring a curated selection of feder

06/05/2026

New milestone in AI-driven prognosis: A study in Nature Aging introduces an AI method that predicts Alzheimer’s progression, including future cognitive decline over 36 months, from a standard brain scan and basic demographic information.

Dr. Jeff Luci, Research Assistant Professor & Technical Director of the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research within Rutgers Brain Health Institute, shared his insight.

"The speed at which biomedical imaging methods are developed, while impressive using only legacy techniques, has rapidly accelerated with the addition of AI assistance."

🔗 Read more: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/06/03/predicting-alzheimers-progression-from-a-single-brain-scan-a-new-milestone-in-ai-driven-diagnosis-and-prognosis/

Rutgers University

06/03/2026

Women experience distinct biological transitions throughout life, including puberty, pregnancy, motherhood, menopause, and aging, that profoundly shape . For generations, medical research and clinical trials have systematically excluded females, creating widespread gaps in scientific understanding of women’s brain function, disease vulnerability, and neurological resilience.

Rutgers Brain Health Institute has launched the Rutgers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (RWBHI) to close this gap by supporting targeted women’s brain health research and sharing research-backed public resources.

“By focusing on women’s specific issues, we are confident that we will discover new insights into brain mechanisms in general. These new findings will benefit brain health for everyone,” said Dr. Gary Aston-Jones, Director of the BHI.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-brain-health-institute-launches-womens-brain-health-initiative

Rutgers University

A new Rutgers initiative aims to fill decades of critical research gaps and deliver science-backed resources to support women’s unique brain health needs throughout every life stage.

06/02/2026

📩 Check out the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) May Monthly Newsletter. Stay up-to-date with our latest faculty achievements, upcoming events, activities, opportunities, and more.

Rutgers University


Email from Rutgers Brain Health Institute Stay up-to-date with the latest faculty achievements, upcoming events, activities, and opportunities and more   Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI) The Rut

05/28/2026

Highlighting Dr. Tracey Shors Trail Blazing Career: Rewiring the Brain to Overcome Everyday Trauma

As Rutgers Brain Health Institute launches the Women's Brain Health Initiative (WBHI), each month, we will feature Rutgers faculty who have advanced research on women’s brain health. This month, we are proud to highlight the work of Distinguished Professor Tracey Shors with a powerful and hopeful message: the female brain is not defined by stress or trauma — it is dynamic, resilient, and capable of remarkable recovery.

For Dr. Shors, the brain is best understood as a dynamic organ that can adapt and change. Fear. Memory. Learning. Resilience. These are verbs, not nouns — constantly shifting brain-based processes that respond to experience, stress, and intentional training.

“I decided I wanted to work directly with women and help them with their everyday traumas,” says Dr. Shors. That work led to her transformative program: MAP Train My Brain, a free, evidence-based program combining meditation and physical training to support healing and resilience.

🔗 Learn more: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/05/27/bhi-launches-womens-brain-health-initiative-highlighting-dr-tracey-shors-trail-blazing-career/
🔗 MAP Train My Brain: https://maptrainmybrain.com/signin

Rutgers University

05/28/2026

🧠 Empowering Women’s Brain Health Across the Lifespan
Rutgers Brain Health Institute is proud to launch the Rutgers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (RWBHI)!

Women experience unique biological transitions — puberty, pregnancy, motherhood, menopause, and aging — that impact . For decades, females were underrepresented in medical research, leaving critical gaps in our understanding. WBHI will work toward closing these gaps by supporting women-focused and sharing evidence-based information with the public.

Dr. Ioana Carcea will be leading the RWBHI. “Now we have the tools, the knowledge, and the will to understand how the female brain navigates multiple profound transitions across the lifespan. I am excited for the Rutgers WBHI to be at the forefront of this emerging area of research.”

🗓️ Save the date! May 26, 2027. BHI will host a day-long symposium focused on female brain research and women’s brain health.

🔗 Learn more: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/05/27/empowering-womens-brain-health-across-the-lifespan/
Rutgers University

05/26/2026

Mark your calendar for the Joint Neurodegeneration and Injury & Neurodevelopment Focus Area Working Groups (FAWGs) Workshop.

The purpose of the workshop is to foster new scientific interactions by bringing together the Neurodegeneration and Injury FAWG and the Neurodevelopment FAWG of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute to explore areas of common interest and overlap.

Eight presentations at the intersection of both FAWGs are expected to jumpstart new discussions and ideas for future collaboration.

🗓️ Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 1:30 – 5:30 PM
📍 Conference Room 3101, Child Health Institute 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ
🔗 https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/05/20/joint-ndi-nd-fawg-workshop/

Rutgers University

05/22/2026

Some questions cannot be answered by a webpage alone.

- What is the right study fit?
- What recruitment pathways are realistic?
- How regulatory approvals are expedited?
- Which research cores or clinical teams should be involved?
- How could collaboration work in practice?

On June 11, attendees will have the opportunity to speak directly with Rutgers faculty, research core leaders, and clinical trial experts about CNS trial feasibility, recruitment, imaging, assessment, and collaboration.

The program will also include time for informal and scheduled meetings, as well as a CAHBIR tour for attendees interested in advanced human brain imaging.

Learn more and register:
https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/conducting-industry-sponsored-cns-clinical-trials-at-rutgers/

05/19/2026

Need Access to Large and Diverse Patient Population Database for Participant Recruitment for your imaging trials- contact CAHBIR.

Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) in the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI), in partnership with RWJBarnabas Health—New Jersey’s largest academic health system, which treats over 3 million patients annually, has unparalleled access to one of the most extensive and diverse patient populations in the region.

For enrollment, approved research and clinical trial investigators can screen nearly 5 million patients in the system’s electronic medical records and find participants with various diagnoses.

For studies requiring psychiatric patient participants, the Rutgers Behavioral Health System serves more than 200,000 patients annually across New Jersey.

🔗 CAHBIR capabilities brochure:https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CAHBIR-Capabilities-Brochure_2026.pdf

🗓️ Register for the CNS Clinical Trials event on June 11 to learn how we support the industry in designing and running clinical trials: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/conducting-industry-sponsored-cns-clinical-trials-at-rutgers/

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