# Magnetic Modulation on Targeted Neural Circuits in Autism

> **NIH NIH K99** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $70,019

## Abstract

Project Summary and Abstract
My overall career goal is to establish an independent research program focused on leveraging cutting-edge
technologies of materials engineering, genetic manipulation and neurobehavioral science to study neural circuits
underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). I hypothesize that a remotely controlled magnetic
neuromodulation tool will link precise circuit-level neural modulation to behavioral outcomes, and thus empower
neural circuitry interrogation with systems neuroscience. To realize this goal, I have received training in extensive
research fields including materials engineering, nanotechnology, cellular neurophysiology, and neuroscience.
With this award, in my future career I will open up a new interdisciplinary research pathway of developing
remotely controlled magnetic tools that enable pharmacological and gene-editing intervention on specific neural
circuits along with the behavioral assessment on freely moving mice and awake, untethered non-human primates
(NHPs). In the mentored phase, I will work under the supervision of Professor Polina Anikeeva - an expert in
optoelectronic and magnetic neural interfaces, with the guidance of my advisory committee consisting of
Professors Guoping Feng, Feng Zhang, Mriganka Sur, and Zhigang He. With their strong supports, I will receive
additional training in gene editing, social behavioral test design and experimental experience with autism models
of mice and marmosets, which will equip me with the knowledge and skills necessary to further the study of
neural underpinnings of ASDs and launch my independent career. The work in mentored phase will be done at
the Research Laboratory of Electronics and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, which offer an
active multidisciplinary research atmosphere, expansive infrastructural resources and a valuable intellectual
community necessary for the implementation of the proposed project. During my Simons postdoctoral training at
MIT, I established a chemomagnetic technique to pharmacologically modulate identifiable neural populations
with behavioral assessment in freely moving mice. Hence, my immediate goal is to advance this technique into
a multiplexed toolkit that enables multiple-site bidirectional control of circuit-level neural modulation. In Aim 1, I
will improve the chemical synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and liposomal nanocarriers to enable
multiplexing control with paired ligand-receptors under disparate magnetic field conditions and implement the
multiple-site neural modulation of brain structures that coordinate social behaviors. Next (Aim 2), I will advance
this magnetic technique with gene editing approaches to enable non-viral gene delivery to cell-type specific
neural circuits relevant to social processing. In the independent phase (Aim 3), I will validate the magnetic
modulation on the targeted neural circuits to ameliorate social behavior deficits in transgenic mice, e.g. Shank3-
/-. With the...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9998030
- **Project number:** 5K99MH120279-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Siyuan Rao
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $70,019
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-19 → 2021-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9998030

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9998030, Magnetic Modulation on Targeted Neural Circuits in Autism (5K99MH120279-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9998030. Licensed CC0.

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