Congratulations to Cristin Welle, PhD, assistant professor in neurosurgery and bioengineering, on receiving a $2 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to pilot the use of peripheral neuromodulation to accelerate motor learning. The grant, which will be received over four years, comes from the DARPA Biological Technologies Office through the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training program, led by Tristan McClure-Begley, PhD, who had been on the CU Boulder faculty prior to joining DARPA in October 2017. The goals of this project are to understand the effects of precisely timed stimulation of the vagus nerve during motor learning on motor performance, and to utilize optogenetics, electrophysiology and in vivo two-photon imaging to investigate the mechanisms that underlie this effect. This work could lead to translational opportunities using invasive or non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation to improve rehabilitation from stroke or to drive enhancements in the learning and performance of skilled tasks.