Tulane University Brain Institute

What Tulane University Brain Institute does

The Tulane University Brain Institute, founded in 2016, is a university-wide transdisciplinary research entity coordinating neuroscience activity across Tulane's uptown campus, downtown campus, and the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center. It operates three pillars — research, education and training, and community outreach and engagement — organized around four research themes: Memory & Cognition, Neurodegenerative Disease / Neural Injury & Repair, Hormone-Brain Interactions, and Brain-Body Health. Core research infrastructure includes a Cell and Tissue Imaging Core (light sheet, confocal, slide scanner, and laser microdissection microscopes) and a Human Research and Data Analysis Core featuring NIRx fNIRS neuroimaging equipment.

The institute does not sell commercial products. Revenue is generated primarily through federal research grants (predominantly from the NIH), endowed funds (e.g., the Panetta Family Presidential Chair and the Priddy Family Spark Research Endowed Fund), and philanthropic donations. Identified NIH awards between 2019 and 2023 total roughly $23.6 million across individual grants, with a flagship $14 million five-year Program Project Grant led by Jill Daniel on estrogens, cardiometabolic health, and female cognitive aging. Educational and outreach offerings — including the TURN summer research program, the TUNA student organization, the Books and Brains Initiative, GIST/BATS middle-school STEM programs, and the Tulane Stroke Survivors Support Group — serve undergraduate and graduate students, K-12 audiences, and the broader New Orleans community.

Customer segments are non-commercial in nature: university students and trainees, academic researchers across Tulane's schools of Science & Engineering and Medicine, K-12 students and teachers, stroke survivors and caregivers, and the general public. The institute is governed by Director Matthew Dalva, PhD (Phyllis M. Taylor Presidential Chair in Brain Science), an Executive Committee with representation from both major schools, and administrative staff including a Departmental Administrator and Operations Manager.

Name

Tulane University Brain Institute

Legal name

Tulane University Brain Institute

Website

https://brain.tulane.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Tulane University Brain Institute is a university-wide, non-profit neuroscience research entity founded in 2016 that coordinates research across four themes (memory, neurodegeneration, hormone-brain interactions, brain-body health), trains students from undergraduate to PhD, and runs community outreach programs, funded primarily by NIH grants, endowments, and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Neuroscience Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based) (EDAHAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Health & Biomedical Research Universities (Academic Medical Center–Affiliated) (EDAHABAC)

Keywords

• Neuroscience research
• Academic research institute
• Graduate neuroscience education
• Neuroscience outreach programs
• Brain imaging services

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: Primary revenue from NIH and other federal research grants funding neuroscience research programs, including the $14 million NIH grant for estrogen therapy research
2. Endowed Funds: Income from endowed funds established by donors supporting research, graduate training, and community engagement activities
3. Donations and Philanthropy: Gifts from donors supporting research, education, training, and community outreach programs

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Tulane Brain Institute coordinates neuroscience research across Tulane University's campuses, organized around four research themes: Memory & Cognition, Neurodegenerative Disease/Neural Injury & Repair, Hormone-Brain Interactions, and Brain-Body Health. It delivers graduate and undergraduate neuroscience education, runs community outreach initiatives, and operates shared research infrastructure including the Cell and Tissue Imaging Core and the Human Research and Data Analysis Core.

Product overview

The Tulane Brain Institute is a university-wide research and educational institution (founded 2016) that coordinates neuroscience-related endeavors across Tulane's campuses. Rather than a commercial product company, it offers a portfolio of research programs, educational offerings, and community outreach initiatives. Core offerings include: research programs organized around four themes (Memory & Cognition, Neurodegenerative Disease/Neural Injury, Hormone-Brain Interactions, Brain-Body Health); the TURN Summer undergraduate research program; TUNA student organization; Books and Brains and GIST/BATS outreach programs; a Stroke Survivors Support Group; weekly seminar series; and shared Core Facilities providing imaging and neuroimaging services. The three pillars of the institute are research, education and training, and community outreach and engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tulane Brain Institute Research Programs Transdisciplinary neuroscience research conducted by faculty, postdocs, and students across the four research themes, supported by shared imaging and data analysis cores.
• Tulane Undergraduate Research in Neuroscience (TURN) Summer Program Summer research program providing stipends to undergraduates to work full-time for eight weeks in Brain Institute faculty labs, including weekly research meetings and a culminating poster session.
• Books and Brains Initiative Signature outreach program combining brain education by diverse neuroscientist role models with donations of neuroscience books to community members and library sites in the New Orleans area.
• GIST/BATS Programs Girls In STEM at Tulane (GIST) and Boys at Tulane in STEM (BATS) programs providing middle school students opportunities to meet and work with undergraduate, graduate, faculty and professional STEM role models.
• Tulane Stroke Survivors Support Group (TSSSG) Multidisciplinary resource for stroke survivors and their family members and caretakers, providing guidance, stroke education, lifestyle workshops, social events, mental stimulation, and recreational activities.
• Tulane Brain Institute Seminar Series Weekly seminars given by nationally recognized neuroscientists attended by faculty and students, with opportunities for faculty and doctoral students to host speakers.
• Tulane Brain Institute Core Facilities
• Tulane Brain Institute Newsletters and Reports Regular newsletters and the 5-Year Report documenting institute activities, research achievements, and community engagement for academic and community audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached 2,500+ community members since 2021 through outreach events
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Multiple Research InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating institutions involved in the $14 million NIH five-year study on estrogen therapy and brain health in women
• Greater New Orleans Society for Neuroscience (GNOSfN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Brain Awareness Week activities and community neuroscience education programs
• Tulane Center for K-12 STEM EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on GIST/BATS programs and teacher training initiatives
• New Orleans Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBooks and Brains initiative partnership for distributing neuroscience books and educational materials
• New Orleans Book FestminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual partnership hosting tables at Family Day for community engagement
• Louisiana State University Health Sciences CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Brain Awareness Week activities and joint research outreach
• New Orleans STEM LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Train the Trainers' teaching neuroscience programs for local teachers
• Mississippi Children's MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on neuroscience outreach activities including Science of Skating events
• Louisiana Children's MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for neuroscience education and pipe cleaner neuron crafts activities

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MIT McGovern Brain Institute: University-wide transdisciplinary brain research institute at MIT coordinating neuroscience across departments. Direct comparable as a similarly structured university-based brain institute with shared imaging cores and broad research theme organization.
• Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute: Stanford's university-wide neuroscience institute combining biological and cognitive neuroscience research. Highly comparable scope and transdisciplinary structure, though backed by larger endowment and Silicon Valley translation ecosystem.
• Columbia Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute: University-wide neuroscience institute at Columbia coordinating research across departments with major imaging infrastructure. Direct structural peer to Tulane Brain Institute's model.
• Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute: University-coordinated neuroscience and brain science institute at Johns Hopkins operating across the medical and undergraduate campuses. Same fundamental construct as Tulane's institute.
• UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences: University-based neuroscience institute at UCSF with multi-disease research themes and substantial imaging cores. Comparable research-portfolio structure targeting neurodegeneration, development, and psychiatric neuroscience.
• Princeton Neuroscience Institute: University-coordinated neuroscience institute within a private research university. Smaller and more focused than Tulane but operates with similar shared imaging infrastructure and theme-based research organization.
• University of Michigan Michigan Neuroscience Institute: Public-private university-coordinated neuroscience institute with cross-departmental research themes and shared core facilities. Comparable to Tulane in mid-sized institute scope and structure.
• Yale Brain Institute: Yale's university-wide neuroscience coordination entity with shared research themes and community outreach. Direct structural peer as a private university-affiliated brain institute.
• Vanderbilt Brain Institute: University-wide neuroscience institute at Vanderbilt with cross-departmental faculty and NIH-funded neuroscience research portfolio. Highly comparable in scale, scope, and structure to Tulane Brain Institute.

Broad incumbents

• Harvard Brain Science Initiative: Harvard's broader university-wide brain science coordination effort spanning Harvard Medical School, FAS, and affiliated hospitals. Larger and broader in scope but operates on the same university-coordinated model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=HIk5zOsFWk0&feature=youtu.be
• Xx.com/TulaneBrain
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tulane-university

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Tulane University Brain Institute