GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) is expanding its efforts to encourage research into bioelectronic medicine, putting up $5 million to support R&D projects around the world. GSK's latest ante follows a $1 million award unveiled last year, part of the company's Bioelectronics Innovation Challenge, which is designed to bankroll projects that marry the fields of drug and device development. The $5 million fund, announced at the White House to recognize the president's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative, is part of a sweeping effort to develop what GSK R&D chief Moncef Slaoui has called "electroceuticals." Beyond research awards, the company is taking an active interest in the field, last year unveiling a $50 million fund with the goal of supporting 5 to 7 drug and device startups over the next 5 years. More