Harmonized, cross-site fMRI platform to compare brain activity across hospitals
Official title: A harmonized vendor-agnostic environment for multi-site functional MRI studies
Funded at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11536355 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A nationwide effort to build a shared, vendor-agnostic fMRI system so researchers can collect and compare brain imaging data reliably across many centers, helping people with brain-related conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2021 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $171,702 |
| NIH project number | 3U24NS120056-05S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11536355 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Individuals who may undergo MRI scanning as part of brain research or clinical studies and meet site-specific eligibility criteria.
✕Less likely to help
People not participating in MRI-based research or those with contraindications to MRI would not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project aims to create a common, open environment for functional MRI data collection and processing that works across different MRI machines. By standardizing how data is acquired and reconstructed, it will make it easier to combine results from multiple sites and study brain function in health and disease. Researchers will use an open-source platform to develop and share pulse sequences and analysis methods that produce consistent, high-quality brain images. The goal is to improve the reliability of multi-site studies and accelerate discoveries in cognition and brain disorders. Participants would contribute by undergoing MRI scans according to standardized procedures when enrolled in related studies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could see faster advances in diagnosing and understanding brain conditions through more reliable, large-scale imaging studies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous multi-site MRI efforts have shown that standardized protocols improve comparability; this project extends those gains with a harmonized, vendor-agnostic framework.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nielsen, Jon-Fredrik — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Nielsen, Jon-Fredrik
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.