Notice Number: NOT-NS-08-001
Key Dates
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Responses Due: No later than September 30, 2008
Issued by
NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research (http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (http://www.nccam.nih.gov/)
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) (http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/)
National Eye Institute (NEI) (http://www.nei.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Aging (NIA) (http://www.nia.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) (http://www.nibib.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (http://www.nida.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) (http://www.nigms.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (http://ninr.nih.gov/ninr/)
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) (http://obssr.od.nih.gov/)
This is a time-sensitive RFI directed toward identifying targets important for studying or monitoring neurodevelopment that can be used to generate monoclonal antibodies. Responses to this RFI should be pertinent to the interests of one or more of the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint Organizations listed above.
Neuroscience research is a unifying theme across many NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research was launched in 2004, and now includes 15 Institutes and Centers as well as the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research. The Blueprint provides a framework for prospectively coordinating research of common interest, including the development of tools and resources which are broadly useful for advancing neuroscience research (http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/). To this end, the Blueprint pools resources and expertise to take advantage of economies of scale and address cross-cutting needs of the research community. Through a series of focused Blueprint initiatives, a variety of new tools and resources have already been made available to neuroscientists. In Fiscal Year 2008, the Blueprint will generate and make available novel research tools and resources to rapidly advance the field of nervous system development. Such tools and resources will be critical for improved comprehension of normal development, as well as for the elucidation of a wide array of nervous system disorders based in aberrant developmental processes.
Information Requested
As part of this emphasis on neurodevelopment in Fiscal Year 2008, the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint Neurodevelopment Initiative is now accepting suggestions for the generation of monoclonal antibodies against crucial neurodevelopmental targets. Please provide a scientific justification of the biological relevance of the target molecule, the importance of the proposed antibodies to the neurodevelopment research community, and the availability and suitability of existing polyclonal and/or monoclonal antibodies. Requests should also include a list of reagents (fusion proteins, full-length cDNAs for transfection in mammalian cells, samples from knockout mice, and control polyclonal antibodies) that could be provided to the NeuroMab monoclonal antibody production facility (www.neuromab.org) to aid in the development and characterization of the proposed antibodies. If synthetic peptides are the immunogen of choice, please provide a rationale for peptide design. Please send requests to [email protected]. The Blueprint Neurodevelopment Initiative Advisory Board, together with program officials at NIH, will prioritize the requests received in response to this RFI.
To facilitate the availability of high quality monoclonal antibodies, the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint is also promoting the repatriation and broad distribution of existing monoclonal antibodies important in the study of development of the nervous system. If you are interested in contributing your monoclonal antibodies to the distribution facility, please contact [email protected]. Costs associated with distribution will be borne by the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint.
Finally, the NIH Blueprint is assembling a list of existing antibodies (polyclonal and monoclonal) that have proved useful to researchers investigating nervous system development. Please access the NeuroMab Antibody Forum http://www.neuromab.org/Forum2/index.php and provide detailed information (source, lot number, literature citation) about each antibody you have used successfully in the past.
Responses
Please send responses to [email protected] no later than September 30, 2008.
Inquiries
Specific questions about this Notice may be directed to:
Randall R. Stewart, Ph.D.
Program Director for Channels, Synapses and Circuits
National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke
National Institutes of Health
6001 Executive Blvd., Room 2135
Bethesda, MD 20892-9523
Phone: (301) 496-1917
Fax: (301) 402-1501
E-mail: [email protected]
Robert Riddle, Ph.D.
Program Director for Neurogenetics
National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Neuroscience Center/Room 2156
6001 Executive Blvd.
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: 301 496 5745
E-mail: [email protected]
Laurie S. Nadler, Ph.D.
Chief, Neuropharmacology Program
Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
6001 Executive Blvd., Rm. 7184, MSC 9641
Bethesda, MD 20892-9641
Phone: (301) 443-5288
Fax: (301) 451-5615
Email: [email protected]
and Human Services (HHS)
