January 30, 2023
RFA-OD-23-001: Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40)
Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers provide support for special colonies of laboratory animals, as well as other resources such as informatics tools, reagents, biological materials (cells, tissues, and organs) and genetic stocks that serve the biomedical research community in a variety of research areas on a local, regional, and national basis. The Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, ORIP encourages current Centers supported by P40 grants awarded under
Background
The goal of projects submitted under this NOSI is to provide support for a Curation and Informatics component which will generate or assist the generation of new information, services, products, and/or models that will improve the Resource Center. Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers supported by the P40 grant mechanism must have broad application to multiple NIH Institutes or Centers (ICs) to align with the ORIP’s NIH-wide mission (https://orip.nih.gov/about-orip).
Important functions of Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers are developing and maintaining the Center’s in-house data management systems in a format that may facilitate their integration with other animal resource databases and community standards for information accessibility and interoperability, as well as providing adequate staff for curation of newly acquired stocks for collection and animal resource distribution management. These activities will contribute to the implementation of the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science, which describes actions aimed at modernizing the biomedical research data ecosystem. Biomedical repositories should accept submission of relevant data from the community and generate their own data to store, organize, validate, archive, preserve, and distribute information in compliance with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) Data Principles. Centers should develop plans in accordance with the new NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (NOT-OD-22-189) to better position such Centers for the data implementation update requirements. In addition, improving access to the Resource Center’s databases as well as developing metrics to evaluate the usage, utility, and impact of a given repository will improve the ability of these Centers to meet the needs of the biomedical research community.
Specific Areas of Research Interest and Submission Requirements
The research plan for the Curation and Informatics component must discuss the following key areas:
- Curation of Stocks and other materials:
The curation of repository stocks and generation of associations with genomic and phenotyping information to improve cross-referencing and integration of the animal models available from other ORIP supported resources (where applicable). Development of systems that allow animal strain, related biological materials, and reagent (e.g., antibody) to be searched according to model phenotype and reagent properties (e.g., the species in which reagent performance has been validated).
- Informatics/Management:
Use of industry standard information management practices according to the FAIR data principles, alignment of existing data repositories with TRUST (Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability, and Technology) principles, and evaluation of usage, utility, and impact.
- Web Portals:
Development of web content as well as organization of web-based presentation/outreach efforts and community-friendly ordering and order management systems. Centers are encouraged to develop interfaces that assist investigators to search repository content for human disease associations.
- Reporting Outcomes:
Organization of efforts to collect information for Center’s reporting purposes (Research Performance Progress Reports [RPPRs and supplement RPPRs] for example) and for evaluating impact of distribution activities and providing services to the biomedical community (i.e., tracking user information, associated funding sources and award numbers, outcomes of the studies using Center’s research resources, etc.).
- Training:
Comment on training Stock Center curators with new informatics management skills, and technical personnel with web page development and informatics system maintenance skills.
Eligibility
In addition to the requirements listed in RFA-OD-23-001 note the following.
- Only PDs/PIs of an active P40 award from ORIP funded under RFA-OD-20-002 or PAR-17-006 who have not yet applied for competitive renewal through RFA-OD-23-001 are eligible. Only electronically submitted applications will be accepted.
- The peer-reviewed NIH-funded parent grant must have at least 18 months of active grant support remaining after the submission deadline for the submitted application. An award in a no-cost extension is not eligible.
Budget
- Applicants may request up to $300,000 total cost per each year for this component. Application budgets must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
- The Award project period is limited to the funding period of the parent award.
- Applicants must follow all application instructions in the NIH Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in the relevant section of RFA-OD-23-001. Also note the following: Applicants should include “NOT-OD-23-068” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form.
Scientific Review Process
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in the relevant sections of RFA-OD-23-001.
Application and Submission Information
This notice applies to due dates on or after February 21, 2023 and subsequent receipt dates through September 26, 2025.
Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following funding opportunity announcement (FOA) or any reissues of these announcement through the expiration date of this notice
RFA-OD-23-001 - Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40) (Clinical Trials Not-Allowed)
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the funding opportunity announcement used for submission must be followed, with the following additions:
For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-OD-23-068” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
It is strongly recommended that the applicant contact the ORIP scientific contact and their respective program officer for the parent award ahead of submission to confirm that the supplement falls within the scope of the parent award.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the ORIP scientific contact that a request has been submitted in response to this FOA to facilitate efficient processing of the request.
Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will not be considered for the NOSI initiative.
Scientific/Research Contact(s)
Oleg Mirochnitchenko, Ph,D.
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0748
Email: oleg.mirochnitchenko@nih.gov
and Human Services (HHS)
