Its research focuses on brain function and neural circuits, using techniques to visualize microscopic molecular processes.

From 2000 to 2005, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and was an assistant professor of Neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center from 2005 to 2012.

[9] In 2013, a research study led by MPFI's Scientific Director, Ryohei Yasuda, discovered a signaling protein involved in the neuronal dysfunction seen in Alzheimer's Disease.

This study showed that reduction in production of the protein, centaurin-1 (CentA1), using RNA silencing techniques led to amelioration of Alzheimer's-related symptoms in neurons.

[citation needed] The MPFI building was designed by the Washington, D.C. architectural firm, ZGF Architects LLP and built by DPR Construction.