Notice Number: NOT-HG-06-010

Key Dates
Release Date: March 20, 2006

Issued by
National Institute of Human Genome Research (NHGRI), (http://www.genome.gov/). 

On December 22, 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a Request for Applications entitled, RFA-HG-06-001, “Genome Sequencing Centers”.  This Notice is to inform the scientific community that the NIH is amending RFA-HG-06-001 “Genome Sequencing Centers” as follows.

The following paragraphs are to be inserted following Section IV–6 “Plan for Sharing Research Data”, prior to Section IV-6, “Sharing Research Resources”

Intellectual property management plan

A primary objective for the " Genome Sequencing Centers” is to maximize the public benefit of the data produced.  Accordingly, awardees should manage intellectual property (IP) and data in a way that achieves this goal.  In the case of the TCGA, as well as many of the medical sequencing projects, awardees are expected to generate a large collection of data that will serve as a foundation for the scientific community to develop future diagnostics, therapeutics and other medical applications.  To achieve the objective of producing and broadly sharing the resources generated by both TCGA and the medical sequencing portion of the proposed sequencing capacity, applicants should develop a comprehensive IP and data management strategy that is consistent with the NIH Research Tools Policy (http://ott.od.nih.gov/policy/research_tool.html).  Examples which applicants may wish to consider include the recommendations cited in NIH’s Best Practices for the Licensing of Genomic Inventions (http://www.ott.nih.gov/policy/genomic_invention.html).

It is intended that the tools of scientific discovery necessary to rapidly and effectively develop new diagnostics, therapeutics and other medical applications be widely available for research use. Accordingly, awardees will be expected to manage IP in a way that is consistent with the goals of the initiative and in accordance with applicable NIH guidelines and best practices. Applicants should submit an IP Management Plan that assures that data is rapidly released according to approved criteria (see above), that licensing and sharing practices ensure the availability of data and research resources for future use by the scientific community, and that research collaboration or sponsorship agreements are consistent with the requirements of the TCGA and the NHGRI medical sequencing program. IP Management Plans, once approved, will also become Terms and Conditions of award. 

Restrictive licensing and sharing practices for TCGA and medical sequencing data could substantially diminish the value and public benefit provided by this community resource project.  Management practices that would prevent or block access to, or use of TCGA or medical sequencing data and resources for research use will be considered to be hindering the goals of the NHGRI sequencing program. Applicants are encouraged to clearly demonstrate in their IP Management plan how their strategies will achieve the desired public benefit and programmatic goals through effective sharing of TCGA and medical sequencing data and tools.

Inquiries
Direct questions about scientific/research issues to:

Adam Felsenfeld, Ph.D. and Jane L. Peterson, Ph.D.
Division of Extramural Research
National Institute of Human Genome Research
5635 Fisher Lane
Suite 4076
Bethesda , MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 496-7531
FAX: (301) 480-2770
Email: [email protected];  [email protected]