# Integration and interoperability of complex data and tissues from the human brain

> **NIH NIH UG3** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $1,032,521

## Abstract

Project Summary:
Health information is siloed and often suffers from the sheer volume and the heterogeneous nature of complex
datasets. This is in stark contrast to what a physician does when a patient is evaluated. Data from electronic
health records, blood tests, imaging, electrical recordings, genomic studies, and neuropsychological measures
are combined in the clinician’s mind to find the best diagnosis and treatment plan. Nowhere is this more
challenging than for studies of the human brain. We have developed a one-of-a-kind human brain tissue bank
where each brain sample is spatially linked to a comprehensive multimodal dataset using standardized tissue
processing techniques using a home-grown software platform called INTUITION. Highly curated and integrated
data are assembled from patients to help both in clinical care and provide a unique research platform for the
human brain that is linked to fresh human brain tissues samples. Many patients undergo complex, multistep
brain surgeries to treat their seizures. Studies using these standardized tissue methods and INTUITION software
have already led to important new discoveries including molecular (genomic, proteomic, metabolomic)
biomarkers, imaging methods, brain network discovery, and therapeutic targets that would otherwise not have
been identified. The major goals for this collaborative innovation award are to adapt, modify, and expand
INTUITION and a brain tissue collection educational program into a standardized, virtual tissue bank and
federated data platform for dissemination through 3 CTSA hubs with teams at 5 collaborating institutions in the
city of Chicago. The platform leverages common data elements and will use a team of experts to develop new
ones. As part of this ambitious project, we will optimize brain image visualization and EEG tools, work with a
highly diverse patient population that spans the age spectrum (pediatric and adult) and develop user-friendly
tools that will be sustainable because of their combined utility for clinical care and research. Given the
extraordinary value of highly curated fresh human brain tissues and the fact that brain surgeries are becoming
less invasive, it is important that we take full advantage of these priceless tissues as soon as possible. We will
develop a hands-on education program followed by web-based training modules for human brain tissue
localization and processing in parallel with standardized data processing, storage and upload methods for
images and EEG studies at each of the 5 sites. This is especially important for rare brain disorders that require
collaboration from many centers to create a standardized, virtual pool of tissue samples and associated data.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10932428
- **Project number:** 5UG3TR004501-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** JEFFREY A LOEB
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,032,521
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-20 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10932428

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10932428, Integration and interoperability of complex data and tissues from the human brain (5UG3TR004501-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10932428. Licensed CC0.

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