Solicitation of Samples from Case-Control Studies for Genotyping through the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN)

Notice Number: NOT-HG-06-009

Key Dates
Release Date: March 21, 2006
Receipt Date: May 9, 2006

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (http://www.nih.gov)
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) (http://www.fnih.org/)

The Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) is a public-private partnership whose goal is to stimulate research to understand the complex contributions of genes to human health and disease. The Genetic Association Information Network will be managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private-sector partners. This Notice announces, on behalf of the FNIH and its partners, an opportunity for investigators from the worldwide research community to nominate studies to participate in GAIN.

GAIN will genotype samples from existing case-control studies of common diseases to provide data for whole genome association studies. The samples for this study have not been identified yet, so the purpose of this Notice is to advise investigators that they may nominate appropriate sets of samples, and the associated phenotype and exposure data, from existing studies. As GAIN will be funding the genotyping, there will be no cost to those investigators who contribute samples. The resulting genotype data, as well as the phenotype and exposure data, will be made available, at no cost, to the entire scientific community for analysis through a central database managed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the NIH National Library of Medicine. All of the data will be released as rapidly as possible, with appropriate policies and procedures in place to maintain the privacy of participants in the original studies, ensure data quality, and recognize the intellectual contributions of the researchers contributing study data to GAIN. The opportunity for broad analysis of the resulting datasets is intended to facilitate the identification of the genetic pathways underlying individual susceptibility to these diseases and to highlight new molecular targets for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Access to the GAIN genotyping program is available to investigators from domestic and foreign, government, non-profit, and for-profit institutions. Information about this project and the procedures for requesting access to the GAIN genotyping opportunity are available at:
http://www.fnih.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=382&Itemid=43. The deadline for requests is May 9, 2006.

Inquiries

David Wholley
Director, Genetic Association Information Network
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
gain@fnih.org