diff --git a/backend/neo4j_search_tool.py b/backend/neo4j_search_tool.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2929d63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/neo4j_search_tool.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import os
+import logging
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import List, Dict, Any, Optional
+from neo4j import GraphDatabase
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("graph_retrieval")
+logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+if not logger.handlers:
+    _h = logging.StreamHandler()
+    _h.setFormatter(logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s [%(levelname)s] %(name)s: %(message)s"))
+    logger.addHandler(_h)
+
+@dataclass
+class GraphItem:
+    """Standardized output similar to RetrievedItem in retrieval.py"""
+    name: str
+    definition: str
+    relationships: List[str]
+    source: str
+
+class GraphRetriever:
+    """
+    Neo4j-backed retriever for NIFSTD ontology terms.
+    
+    Environment variables:
+      - NEO4J_URI
+      - NEO4J_USER
+      - NEO4J_PASSWORD
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.uri = os.getenv("NEO4J_URI", "bolt://localhost:7687")
+        self.user = os.getenv("NEO4J_USER", "neo4j")
+        self.password = os.getenv("NEO4J_PASSWORD", "password")
+        
+        try:
+            self.driver = GraphDatabase.driver(self.uri, auth=(self.user, self.password))
+            self.driver.verify_connectivity()
+            logger.info(f"Connected to Neo4j at {self.uri}")
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Failed to connect to Neo4j: {e}")
+            self.driver = None
+
+    def close(self):
+        if self.driver:
+            self.driver.close()
+
+    def search_ontology(self, term: str) -> List[GraphItem]:
+        """
+        Finds a term in the graph and returns its definition + parent/child links.
+        """
+        if not self.driver:
+            return []
+
+        query = """
+        MATCH (n)
+        WHERE toLower(n.label) CONTAINS toLower($term)
+        OPTIONAL MATCH (n)-[r]->(related)
+        RETURN n.label as name, n.definition as def, collect(type(r) + " -> " + related.label) as rels
+        LIMIT 5
+        """
+        
+        results = []
+        try:
+            with self.driver.session() as session:
+                records = session.run(query, term=term)
+                for record in records:
+                    results.append(GraphItem(
+                        name=record["name"],
+                        definition=record.get("def", "No definition found"),
+                        relationships=record["rels"],
+                        source="NIFSTD Ontology"
+                    ))
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Graph search failed: {e}")
+            
+        return results
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    gr = GraphRetriever()
+    items = gr.search_ontology("hippocampus")
+    for item in items:
+        print(f"Found: {item.name} | Rels: {item.relationships}")
+    gr.close()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/retrieval.py b/backend/retrieval.py
index 866d6c9..3dbd2f1 100644
--- a/backend/retrieval.py
+++ b/backend/retrieval.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("retrieval")
 logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
-
 if not logger.handlers:
     _h = logging.StreamHandler()
     _h.setFormatter(logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s [%(levelname)s] %(name)s: %(message)s"))
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 67d020c..8eca26d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ dependencies = [
     "langchain>=0.3.27",
     "langgraph>=0.6.4",
     "matplotlib>=3.10.3",
+    "neo4j>=6.0.3",
     "pandas>=2.3.1",
+    "pytest>=9.0.2",
     "requests>=2.32.4",
     "scikit-learn>=1.7.0",
     "sentence-transformers>=3.0.0",
diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test_neo4j_tool.py b/tests/test_neo4j_tool.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1bf2b79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_neo4j_tool.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+import os
+import sys
+
+sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
+from backend.neo4j_search_tool import GraphRetriever
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_driver():
+    """Fakes the Neo4j driver so we don't need a real DB."""
+    with patch("backend.neo4j_search_tool.GraphDatabase.driver") as mock_dt:
+        mock_instance = MagicMock()
+        mock_dt.return_value = mock_instance
+        yield mock_instance
+
+def test_initialization():
+    """Verifies the tool loads environment variables correctly."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"NEO4J_URI": "bolt://test:7687"}):
+        tool = GraphRetriever()
+        assert tool.uri == "bolt://test:7687"
+
+def test_search_ontology(mock_driver):
+    """Verifies the search method returns GraphItem objects."""
+    mock_session = MagicMock()
+    mock_driver.session.return_value.__enter__.return_value = mock_session
+    mock_record = MagicMock()
+    
+    data = {"name": "Hippocampus", "def": "Brain region", "rels": []}
+    mock_record.__getitem__.side_effect = data.__getitem__
+    mock_record.get.side_effect = data.get
+    mock_session.run.return_value = [mock_record]
+
+    tool = GraphRetriever()
+    results = tool.search_ontology("Hippocampus")
+    assert results[0].name == "Hippocampus"
+    assert results[0].definition == "Brain region"
+    mock_session.run.assert_called_once()
\ No newline at end of file