Notice Number: NOT-HG-15-037

Key Dates
Release Date: September 11, 2015
Estimated Publication Date of Announcement: November 2015
First Estimated Application Due Date: February 2016
Earliest Estimated Award Date: December 2016
Earliest Estimated Start Date: December 2016

Issued by
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Purpose

The National Human Genome Research Institute intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support an expanded ENCODE Data Coordination and Analysis Center to continue to provide community access to ENCODE data and resources and support analysis of ENCODE data necessary to create and make available a high quality encyclopedia; and to support new activities to enable direct submissions of data and metadata from the research community into the ENCODE portal, and to organize and facilitate Consortium activities.

This FOA will be one of four FOAs planned in functional genomics to expand the catalog of functional DNA sequence elements, move beyond cataloging towards understanding the functional role of genomic elements in specific biological contexts, develop strategies to apply these studies to disease research, increase the number of scientists from the research community contributing to the creation of the encyclopedia of functional elements, develop analytical tools to enhance the utility of the data and make the data, tools, analyses and assembled encyclopedia freely available to the research community. (See also NOT-HG-15-034; NOT-HG-15-035; NOT-HG-15-036.) For more information, see Concepts approved by National Advisory Committee for Human Genome Research: http://www.genome.gov/Pages/About/NACHGR/May2015AgendaDocuments/Concept_Clearance_Functional_Genomics_Initiatives_5-8-15.pdf.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. 

The FOA is expected to be published in the Fall of 2015 with an expected application due date in the Winter of 2016.

This FOA will utilize the U24 (Resource-Related Research Projects -- Cooperative Agreement) activity code. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Research Initiative Details

The goal of the intended FOA is to support an ENCODE Data Coordination and Analysis Center (EDCAC) that will consist of two components, a Data Coordination Center (DCC) and a Data Analysis Center (DAC). These will be solicited and funded separately (under the same FOA) due to the required differences in expertise, but they are expected to regularly communicate and coordinate their activities so as to function as a single entity. While many of the activities will require the coordinated efforts of both the DCC and the DAC, each will have the lead in specific areas.

The DCC-led activities will include:

• Developing, housing, and maintaining databases to track, store, and provide access to the data, metadata and computational tools generated by the ENCODE Project (past and future).
• Developing, maintaining, and updating data processing pipelines.
• Maintaining and enhancing the ENCODE portal to ensure easy access to ENCODE data and resources.
• Providing community access to ENCODE data in state-of-the-art browser/visualization formats.
• Tracking and reporting on data submission and providing strategic data-based prioritization of areas in need of data generation.
• Importing data from investigators and projects outside of ENCODE, developing the needed infrastructure and methodology.
• Serving as the ENCODE Consortium’s Coordinating Center to:
• Facilitate communication and coordination within the Consortium
• Organize and support annual Consortium meetings
• Organize and support Consortium working groups
• Support outreach activities to promote broad use of data, analyses and tools

The DAC-led activities will include:

• Specifying and updating data processing pipelines.
• Providing leadership and computational expertise to update and refine the encyclopedia, the major ENCODE deliverable to the research community.
• Providing leadership and computational expertise to analyze data from the planned Functional Element Mapping Center (see NOT HG-15-034) and Functional Element Characterization Center (see NOT HG-15-035) FOAs and analyses from the planned Computational Analysis Research Projects FOA (see NOT HG-15-036), if relevant, to expand the lexicon of functional elements beyond the basic categories (e.g., promoters and enhancers).
• Providing leadership and expertise to update existing and develop new data quality metrics and standards for all data types.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Elise A. Feingold, Ph.D
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Telephone: 301-496-7531
Email: [email protected]