Notice of Intent to Publish Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcements for a Federated Biobanking resource for the Down Syndrome Cohort Study Program (DS-CDP) across the lifespan for the INCLUDE Project

Key Dates

• June 2, 2023 - Notice of Intent to Publish Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcements for a Down Syndrome Clinical Cohort Coordinating Center (DS-4C) for the INCLUDE Project. See Notice NOT-OD-23-134. 
• June 2, 2023 - Notice of Intent to Publish Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcements for a Federated Biobanking resource for the Down Syndrome Cohort Study Program (DS-CDP) across the lifespan for the INCLUDE Project. See Notice NOT-OD-23-135. 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

This Notice is being provided to establish an infrastructure to facilitate coordination, collection, management, and dissemination of biospecimen materials to advance clinical research of co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS). This effort is intended to leverage NIH's investment in the INCLUDE Project, the INCLUDE Data Coordinating Center (DCC), and support for current NIH-funded Down syndrome biospecimen repositories. 

The National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director, with other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) (NICHD, NHLBI, NIA, NIDCD, NIMH etc.), intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications for a Federated Biospecimen Repository.

The Federated Biospecimen Repository will use a cooperative mechanism. In addition, therewill be a companion NOFO for the Down Syndrome Cohort Research Sites (DS-CRS) and the Down Syndrome Clinical Cohort Coordinating Centers (DS-4C) within the Down Syndrome Cohort Development Program (DS-CDP) (for details see: NOT-OD-23-134; NOT-OD-23-135). 

This NOFO will utilize the U24 activity code. The NOFO is expected to be published in Summer 2023 with an expected application due date in Fall 2023. Details of the planned NOFO are provided below.

The objectives of the federated biospecimen repository are to:

1. Serve as the primary repository for new and legacy biospecimens generated from INCLUDE-funded research and related DS projects for which clinical and other data will and/or are being shared, unless there is a compelling reason to use another existing repository. This would include specimens generated by the new longitudinal Down Syndrome Cohort Development Program (DS-CDP) under development..
2. Coordinate the implementation of standard processes, protocols, and practices for multiple existing biorepositories that host biospecimens relevant to the study of DS.
3. Develop a new web-based user interface to facilitate the search of all publicly-accessible biospecimens relevant to the study of DS. In addition, the federated biorepository will coordinate with existing biorepositories and the INCLUDE Data Coordinating Center (DCC) to extract, curate, standardize, and display, via public web services and the user interface, associated biospecimen metadata using NIH relevant data standards.

Applications from existing NIH-funded biospecimen repositories that have demonstrated experience with receiving, processing, storing and distributing various types of cell lines, tissues and cell types from ectoderm-derived, endoderm-derived, and mesoderm-derived organs will be accepted.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact INCLUDE staff to determine eligibility and feasibility of the repository. The period of time from the estimated NOFO publication date until the estimated first application due date is designed to allow ample time for this discussion. If applying to this NOFO, the applicant is expected to work collaboratively with the respective team to jointly prepare a grant application in response to this funding opportunity that will undergo NIH peer review.

Funding Information

Public/State Controlled Institution of Higher Education
Private Institution of Higher Education
Nonprofit with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institution of Higher Education)
State Government
Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Federally Recognized)
County governments
Independent school districts
Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
Indian/Native American Tribally Designated Organization (Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
U.S. Territory or Possession
Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Other than Federally Recognized)
Regional Organization
Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government

Applications are not being solicited at this time. 

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Erika D. Tarver, MSM, MPH
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Email: Erika.tarver@nih.gov