The BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) ensures a coordinated and focused effort across NIH and includes representatives from each of the 10 Institutes and Centers (ICs) that contribute to the NIH BRAIN Initiative, with additional at-large members appointed to supplement the working group’s expertise. In addition, the working group includes ex officio members from federal partners Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), and National Science Foundation (NSF), and one non-federal partner from the BRAIN Initiative Alliance. Several MCWG members also serve on the BRAIN Initiative Neuroethics Working Group (NEWG), a group of experts in neuroethics and neuroscience that serves to provide the NIH BRAIN Initiative with input relating to neuroethics.
The MCWG provides ongoing oversight of the long-term scientific vision of the BRAIN Initiative and regularly offers an assessment of the progress of current BRAIN projects and programs. It also serves as a forum for initial "concept clearance," the review of ideas for new initiatives before they can become funding opportunities. Importantly, the working group ensures that each of the BRAIN IC Advisory Councils is informed about BRAIN programs, awards, and progress – as the individual IC Advisory Councils will perform the formal concept clearance and secondary level of review of BRAIN Initiative applications.
Working Group Member List
Chair
John Ngai, Ph.D.
Director, NIH BRAIN Initiative
Members
BRAIN Multi-Council Group Meetings
Upcoming Meetings
Past Meetings
The twenty-seventh meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
- Twenty-seventh meeting agenda(pdf, 128 KB)
- Twenty-sixth meeting summary(pdf, 218 KB)
- Twenty-seventh meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-sixth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
- Twenty-sixth meeting agenda(pdf, 84 KB)
- Twenty-sixth meeting summary(pdf, 187 KB)
- Twenty-sixth meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-fifth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
- Twenty-fifth meeting agenda(pdf, 133 KB)
- Twenty-fifth meeting summary(pdf, 156 KB)
- Twenty-fifth meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-fourth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
- Twenty-fourth meeting agenda(pdf, 180 KB)
- Twenty-fourth meeting summary(pdf, 150 KB)
- Twenty-fourth meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-third meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
- Twenty-third meeting agenda(pdf, 132 KB)
- Twenty-third meeting summary(pdf, 206 KB)
- Twenty-third meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-second meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Monday, May 16, 2022.
- Twenty-second meeting agenda(pdf, 132 KB)
- Twenty-second meeting summary(pdf, 148 KB)
- Twenty-second meeting videocast of the open session
The twenty-first meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.
- Twenty-first meeting agenda(pdf, 132 KB)
- Twenty-first meeting summary(pdf, 203 KB)
- Twenty-first meeting videocast of the open session
The twentieth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Friday, August 20, 2021.
- Twentieth meeting agenda(pdf, 134 KB)
- Twentieth meeting summary(pdf, 149 KB)
- Twentieth meeting videocast of the open session
The nineteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Thursday, May 20, 2021.
At that meeting, an analysis of BRAIN Initiative investigator demographics (PDF, 983KB) spanning fiscal years 2014 through 2020 was presented, along with the new Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives.
- Nineteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 135 KB)
- Nineteenth meeting summary(pdf, 156 KB)
- Nineteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The eighteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
- Eighteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 137 KB)
- Eighteenth meeting summary(pdf, 155 KB)
- Eighteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The seventeenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Friday, August 21, 2020.
- Seventeenth meeting agenda (pdf, 133 KB)
- Seventeenth meeting summary(pdf, 119 KB)
- Seventeenth meeting videocast of the open session
The sixteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held as an all-virtual meeting on Friday, May 22, 2020.
- Sixteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 131 KB)
- Sixteenth meeting summary(pdf, 116 KB)
- Sixteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The fifteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Friday, January 31, 2020, at 6700 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD.
- Fifteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 158 KB)
- Fifteenth meeting summary(pdf, 149 KB)
- Fifteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The fourteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Tuesday, August 20, 2019, at 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD.
- Fourteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 162 KB)
- Fourteenth meeting summary(pdf, 83 KB)
- Fourteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The thirteenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working group was held on Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD.
- Thirteenth meeting agenda(pdf, 136 KB)
- Thirteenth meeting summary(pdf, 159 KB)
- Thirteenth meeting videocast of the open session
The twelfth meeting of the Multi-Council Working group was held on Tuesday, February 12, 2019, at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, MD.
- Twelfth meeting agenda(pdf, 130 KB)
- Twelfth meeting summary(pdf, 97 KB)
- Twelfth meeting videocast of the open session video
The eleventh meeting of the Multi-Council Working group was held on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at the Porter Neuroscience Building on the NIH campus.
The tenth meeting of the Multi-Council Working group was held on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, at 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD.
The ninth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, as a WebEx virtual meeting.
- Ninth meeting summary(pdf, 24 KB)
- Update of BRAIN Initiative slide deck(pdf, 1929 KB)
The eighth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Thursday, August 17, 2017, in Building 50 on NIH campus.
The seventh meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, as a WebEx teleconference.
The sixth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group occurred on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, at the NIH Porter Neuroscience Research Center (35 Convent Dr., Bethesda, MD 20892).
- Sixth meeting agenda(pdf, 602 KB)
- Sixth meeting summary(pdf, 469 KB)
- Sixth meeting videocast of the open session
The fifth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group occurred on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, at the Hilton Garden Inn Washington DC-Downtown (815 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005).
The fourth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group was held on Monday, February 8, 2016, at 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD.
The third meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group occurred on Wednesday, July 30, 2015, at 5635 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, Rooms 508/509.
The second meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group occurred on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, on the NIH Campus.
The first meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group occurred Monday, August 25, 2014, on the NIH Campus.