NIH's new Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) is available for the electronic preparation and submission of multi-project applications through Grants.gov to NIH. Applications to this FOA must be submitted electronically using ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system solution; paper applications will not be accepted. ASSIST replaces the Grants.gov downloadable forms currently used with most NIH opportunities and provides many features to enable electronic multi-project application submission and improve data quality, including: pre-population of organization and PD/PI data, pre-submission validation of many agency business rules and the generation of data summaries in the application image used for review.

It is critical that applicants follow the Multi-Project (M) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts) and where instructions in the Application Guide are directly related to the Grants.gov downloadable forms currently used with most NIH opportunities. Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

Background

The NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE) program is funded through the NIH Common Fund, which supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact. All Common Fund initiatives invite investigators to develop bold, innovative, and often risky approaches to address problems that may seem intractable or to seize new opportunities that offer the potential for transformation of research processes.

The simplicity and broad applicability of targeted and programmable genome editing approaches, including but not limited to those based on CRISPR-Cas9, raise the possibility of a fundamentally new way to treat a variety of rare genetic diseases, as well as numerous therapeutic strategies for common diseases. However, many challenges need to be overcome before such techniques could be widely used in the clinic. Participants in a 2017 NIH workshop identified several research areas in need of investment, including optimized genome editors, specifically targeted delivery systems, and more predictive animal models and studies. Although research in each of these fields has been very active, efforts have focused on the needs of individual studies and not on overall procedures for improving and testing the safety and efficacy of genome editing approaches.

To maximize the potential of genome editing technology to treat as many diseases as possible, the SGCE program has been developed to accelerate the translation of genome editing technology into clinical applications. The program is managed by the NIH SCGE Working Group, which consists of NIH programmatic staff from multiple Institutes and Centers of the NIH as well as the Office of the Director. The key components of the SCGE program include: (1) better animal models for assessing genome editing in vivo (SCGE Animal Models, RFA-RM-18-012, RFA-RM-18-013, RFA-RM-18-014); (2) tools and assays to detect adverse consequences of genome editing in human cells (SCGE Biological Systems, RFA-RM-18-015); (3) new technologies to deliver genome editing machinery into disease-relevant cells and tissues in vivo (SCGE Delivery Technologies, RFA-RM-18-016); (4) novel genome editing and engineering systems (SCGE Editing Systems, RFA-RM-18-017); and (5) the SCGE Dissemination and Coordinating Center (SCGE DCC, RFA-RM-18-018). The SCGE DCC will make the results, tools and technologies developed under this program widely available to facilitate adoption for translation into clinical applications.

The deliverables of the SCGE program will be a collection of tools, methods, data, and best practices that will accelerate development and testing of new treatments for many diseases, i.e. the SCGE Toolkit for Therapeutic Genome Editing or SCGE Toolkit. The SCGE program will involve collaborative research by a partnership of genome editing experts, delivery systems experts, animal model creators and assay developers to produce validated techniques and knowledge through exchange of expertise, information and research tools. Awardees from all five SCGE program components will form a consortium, governed by a steering committee of investigators and NIH staff that will develop consensus policies and procedures for consortium-wide activities such as data and resource sharing. It is expected that all awardees will collaborate to accelerate the translation of genome editing technologies into treatments for human disease.

Objectives of this Research Program

The intention of the program is to establish two SCGE Large Animal Testing Centers, one for testing genome editing delivery technologies and editors in pigs, and another for testing in monkeys (rhesus and marmosets). During the first two budget periods (April 2019 - April 2021), efforts of the Centers should be focused on establishing animal cohorts through animal breeding and characterization and establishing assays and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for testing. The pig Testing Center should have the capacity to test at least 250 animals per year from April 2021 to April 2024. The non-human primate Testing Center should provide for testing at least 100 animals per year from April 2021 to April 2024. Those numbers include wild-type and reporter animals together. Reporter animals will be deposited to the Testing Centers (in 2021 for reporter pigs, 2022 for reporter marmosets and 2023 for reporter rhesus), and it is expected that the Testing Centers will focus on expanding the reporter animal populations, and use them for testing, as they become available.

Each Testing Center will be expected to:

• Receive, verify and cryopreserve large animal reporter strains developed under the related U24 FOA (RFA-RM-18-013).
• Breed and maintain cohorts of wild-type and reporter large animals (either pigs or non-human primates including rhesus macaques or marmosets) for a) in-house testing of delivery vehicles and new editing tools developed in accompanying components of the program and b) distribution to the wider biomedical community.
• Establish assays and SOPs to evaluate on-target and off-target genome editing in target cells and tissues, including germline cells, in wild-type animals.
• Evaluate the ability of delivery technologies developed by the SCGE Delivery Technologies component to deliver genome editing tools to target cells and tissues. Delivery vehicles may be viral or non-viral and contain nuclease-based editors, single base editors, RNA editors, or epigenetic editors.
• Establish methods and protocols to evaluate the safety of the genome editing technologies, including at a minimum duration of genome editing, immunogenicity and inflammation, using wild-type and reporter large animals.
• Provide results of the testing and related data to the SCGE DCC in a timely manner.
• Participate in an integrated and collaborative research network across all components of the SCGE Program to conduct cross species comparative analysis of models created in rodents and large animal species to guide the selection of the most predictive animal models.
• Register catalogs of their resources with current resource tagging and identification initiatives, such as FORCE 11. These Testing Centers should also work with the investigators to encourage the use of a resource identification system in their publications and reports.

Overall Organization of Testing Center Components

Organization: Each Testing Center will consist of a multidisciplinary research team of investigators with complementary expertise in using large animal models for testing different aspects of genome editing development and pre-clinical applications.

Utilizing the U42 Animal Model, and Animal and Biological Materials Resource Cooperative Agreement mechanism, the Testing Center will consist of one Coordination Section, and two cores: Genome Editing Testing Section and Resource Section as described below:

• A Testing Center Director [Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI)] will be responsible for scientific and administrative oversight of the Testing Center. The PD/PI (one of the PD/PIs if a multi-PI application) must devote at least 1.2 person months (10%) of full time professional effort to the program.
• The Coordination Section will manage and coordinate Testing Center research activities between sections, other program components, NIH program staff and the SCGE DCC, and will have oversight for sharing within the Testing Center all sets of data generated by each of the section(s) consistent with achieving the goals of the program.
• The Resource Section will be responsible for archiving germ cells, genotyping, breeding and maintaining cohorts of the wild-type and reporter large animals for testing delivery vehicles and new editing tools. It will receive reporter animal strains and all associated information from the projects supported by the U24 FOA devoted to the creation of the large reporter animal models (RFA-RM-18-013).
• The Genome Editing Testing Section will be responsible for testing delivery reagents and genome editing tools developed by the accompanying components of the program. This section will work directly with awardees from SCGE Delivery Technologies (RFA-RM-18-016) and collaborate with SCGE Editing Systems (RFA-RM-18-017), to establish assays and develop (SOPs) for the detection of genome editing in wild-type animals and in reporter animals developed under the SCGE Large Animal Production FOA (RFA-RM-18-013). This section should also develop assays to test the safety of the genome editing technologies and delivery systems, including immunogenicity, and inflammation.
• The Genome Editing Testing Section should have the appropriate facilities and capability to test viral vectors, including but not limited to Adenovirus, Adeno-Associated Virus, and Herpes Simplex Virus vectors.
• The Testing Center should have a disaster plan to minimize total loss of resources in the event of a catastrophic disaster, such as loss of power, fire, flooding, or data breach.

Testing Center Steering Committee: Each Testing Center should have a Steering Committee. It will serve as the operational governing board. The Testing Center Steering Committee should include: the PD(s)/PI(s), section leads, the NIH Project Scientist (voting), the NIH Program Official (ex officio) and external scientists (s) (if required). Key co-investigators and pre- and postdoctoral trainees, in addition to the PD(s)/PI(s), are eligible to attend Testing Center Steering Committee meetings.

Program Formation and Governance

The awards funded under this FOA will be cooperative agreements (see Section VI. 2. Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award). Close interactions among the awardees and NIH will be required to maintain this complex program. The whole SCGE program governance will rest with the SCGE Program Steering Committee in collaboration with NIH program officials, with advice from the External Scientific Panel (ESP) providing critical scientific and managerial insights, and subject to oversight by the SCGE Program Working Group.

The SCGE Program Steering Committee may establish subcommittees, etc., to facilitate development, implementation and monitoring of specific functions such as selection and assignment of the ready for evaluation in animal model delivery systems and genome editing reagents, their functional evaluation, result assessment, collection of information and dissemination of the data and animal strains. The SCGE Program Steering Committee will provide oversight and approval of tests that require more comprehensive characterization in research organisms.

Development of Milestones before Award

Because this FOA includes specific achievable goals (i.e., expected by the end of year 3, establishment of large animal cohorts for testing new delivery reagents and genome editing components; by the end of year 5, complete testing of new or optimized editor tools in large reporter animals), milestones will be negotiated with applicant(s) prior to award. Milestones are goals that are quantifiable for measuring success and include annual or semi-annual quantitative criteria associated with them. Prior to funding an application, NIH program staff will contact the applicant to establish a final set of milestones based on the information and preliminary milestones provided in the application (see Section IV); milestones will include the: 1) ramp-up time to reach full productivity in a newly funded program; and 2) yearly throughput and turnaround time for analyzing delivery reagents and new editing tools after ramp-up. After review and approval by the NIH SCGE Working Group, the final set of approved milestones will be specified in the Notice of Grant Award.

Progress towards achieving the final set of milestones will be evaluated by NIH Program Staff and the NIH SCGE Working Group on an annual and/or semi-annual basis. If justified, future year milestones may be revised based on data and information obtained during the previous year. If, based on the progress report, the project does not meet the milestones, funding for the project may be discontinued. In addition to milestones, the decision regarding continued funding will also be based on the overall progress of the Testing Center in meeting program goals, program priorities, and the availability of funds.

Data Sharing under this Initiative

Data from the Somatic Cell Genome Editing program are expected to be managed by the SCGE DCC to increase the value of the significant public investment in the creation and operation of the whole Program. Through the SGCE DCC, the NIH expects that datasets and associated data from the Coordination Section of the Large Animal Testing Center will be widely shared with the scientific community for research, while carefully observing established standards. Awardees are expected to comply with the NIH Data Sharing Policy (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/). Information is expected to be shared with SCGE DCC, presented at national meetings, and published in the scientific literature with plans for outreach beyond database repositories welcomed. The SGCE Program Steering Committee will also develop and implement network-wide guidelines for data deposition.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIH staff to discuss the alignment of their proposed work with the goals of this FOA, and the Somatic Cell Genome Editing program.

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.

Higher Education Institutions

• Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

o Hispanic-serving Institutions

o Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

o Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)

o Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions

o Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

For-Profit Organizations

• Small Businesses
• For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Governments

• State Governments
• County Governments
• City or Township Governments
• Special District Governments
• Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
• Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
• Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government, including the NIH Intramural Program.
• U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

• Independent School Districts
• Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
• Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
• Regional Organizations

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

• Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
• System for Award Management (SAM) (formerly CCR) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
• NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
• eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the eRA Commons registration. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
• Grants.gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons.If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:

• A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
• A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
• An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101).

A button to access the online ASSIST system is available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.

Most applicants will use NIH's ASSIST system to prepare and submit applications through Grants.gov to NIH. Applications prepared and submitted using applicant systems capable of submitting electronic multi-project applications to Grants.gov will also be accepted.

It is critical that applicants follow the Multi-Project (M) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise and where instructions in the Application Guide are directly related to the Grants.gov downloadable forms currently used with most NIH opportunities. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.

Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.

By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:

• Descriptive title of proposed activity
• Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)
• Names of other key personnel
• Participating institution(s)
• Number and title of this funding opportunity

The letter of intent should be sent to:

Oleg Mirochnitchenko, PhD
Telephone: 301-435-0748
Email: [email protected]

Component Types Available in ASSIST	Research Strategy/Program Plan Page Limits
Overall	6
Admin Core (Use for Coordination Section)	6
Core (Use for Genome Editing Testing Section and Resource Section)	12 for each Core

Additional page limits described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, and should be used for preparing a multi-component application.

The application should consist of the following components:

• Overall: required
• Coordination Section: required, Maximum of 1
• Genome Editing Testing Section: required, Maximum of 1
• Resource Section: required, Maximum of 1

When preparing your application in ASSIST, use Component Type 'Overall'.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

Complete entire form.

Note: Human Embryonic Stem Cell lines from other components should be repeated in cell line table in Overall component.

Follow standard instructions.

Facilities and Other Resources Applicants should describe the relevant institutional environments which would facilitate the effective implementation of the proposed program. Applicants should also describe existing or planned resources that would be available to the Testing Center, such as laboratory facilities, participating and affiliated institutions and units, geographic distribution of space and personnel, and consultative and statistical resources

Enter primary site only.

A summary of Project/Performance Sites in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons compiled from data collected in the other components will be generated upon submission.

Include only the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and any multi-PDs/PIs (if applicable to this FOA) for the entire application.

A summary of Senior/Key Persons followed by their Biographical Sketches in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons will be generated upon submission.

The only budget information included in the Overall component is the Estimated Project Funding section of the SF424 (R&R) Cover.

A budget summary in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons compiled from detailed budget data collected in the other components will be generated upon submission.

Specific Aims: List each aim for the Testing Center and how it supports the overall objectives of this research program.

Research Strategy: The Testing Center overview should present a concise overall vision and plan for the proposed Testing Center. This section should describe the framework for the Testing Center, overall strategy and how it will address the objectives of the program, including the impact that the results of the proposed Testing Center will have on the SCGE Program and the research field(s) that it encompasses. Describe the overall design, development and advancement of the genome editing technology which will be evaluated in large animal models. The additional specific items to be addressed in this section include but are not limited to the following:

The application should describe the organization of the proposed Testing Center and its management structure, including integration of the components to maintain efficient operation and the reporting relationships of the key personnel. Furthermore, the application should describe how the Testing Center would be integrated into the SCGE Program and interact with the three other components: Delivery Systems (RFA-RM-18-016), Genome Editors (RFA-RM-18-017) and DCC (RFA-RM-18-018), and collaborate with other awardees of the Program in the development of the reporter animals for application, procedures, policies, evaluation strategies, as well as data sharing.

• The methodology and SOPs for the use of the large wild-type and reporter animals to detect genome editing in individual cells should be described, including positive and negative controls for genome editing to ensure that the results of the validation studies will be interpretable and will allow valid conclusions about the effectiveness of the genome editing delivery systems.
• This section should also describe general approaches to be used for evaluating the safety of the genome editing technologies, including duration of genome editing, immunogenicity and inflammation.
• The overall description should demonstrate that the Testing Center will include the necessary group expertise to support the team science environment needed to complete the proposed transdisciplinary work. The statement should be brief and avoid duplicating details of the experience and expertise that are provided in the description of specific components as well as in biosketches. The Testing Center PD/PI (contact PD/PI for applications with multiple PDs/PIs) must be a scientist with large animal model use experience.
• Applicants should describe how they will work with the SCGE DCC as well as with SCGE Program Steering Committee to define the testing service priorities and mode of operation that best matches the needs of the whole consortium within broad guidelines of parity, openness, cost-effectiveness, timeliness, as defined by the SCGE Program Steering Committee, the NIH and its advisors.

Letters of Support: Statements of Institutional Commitment, Letters of Support from the future users of the resources and services, Letters of Collaborations, and other similar documents, if appropriate, should be included in this attachment (rather than in the other sections).

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification:

All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, should address a Data Sharing Plan.

Applicants should indicate their willingness to abide by all data deposition, quality control metrics, standardization, metadata requirements, data and software release, and public copyright license policies developed by the SCGE Program Steering Committee and approved by NIH staff. A primary goal of the SCGE program is to facilitate discoveries by the broad scientific community, thereby accelerating the translation of genome editing technologies into treatments for human disease. Restrictive licensing terms and sharing practices for SCGE-generated data, tools, and resources could substantially diminish their value and public benefit. Accordingly, awardees should manage data, resources, protocols, tools, and software in a way that achieves this goal. Sharing practices that would hinder, prevent or block access to or use of SCGE program data, tools, and resources for research purposes will be considered to be hindering the goals of the SCGE program. The development of policies, methods, and standards for such sharing is critically important. The NIH expects that the awardees, through the SCGE Program Steering Committee, will develop such policies, methods, and standards in concert with the NIH. These policies, methods, and standards will remain consistent with NIH-wide policies on data and resource sharing.

Specific Plan for Data Sharing: Consistent with achieving the goals of this program, the NIH expects that information such as collected data, technical protocols, and any other metadata collected under this FOA is to be deposited as appropriate into existing, publicly available data repositories that are easily accessible, and in machine readable format. Where appropriate, applicants should identify such repositories and plans for deposition. For datatypes that lack suitable public repositories, applicants should indicate their willingness to identify an appropriate alternative solution that is consistent with achieving the goals of the program. Data should also be made available as appropriate via the SCGE Toolkit that will serve as the central access point for information regarding data, critical tools, protocols and reagents being developed by the SCGE program. If applicable, applicants must abide by the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (https://gds.nih.gov/) and should indicate their agreement to it in the data sharing plan.

Specific Plan for Protocol, Tool, and Reagent Sharing: As one of the primary goals of this program is to advance research through development, establishment, broad dissemination and use of community resources across the research community, NIH intends that protocols, tools, and reagents generated by the SCGE program be broadly available and distributed at minimal cost, and without undue intellectual property constraints, so that they can be as widely used as possible for research purposes by the larger scientific community, while encouraging rapid adoption and commercialization of the technologies for the development of genome editing therapies. For all applications and where otherwise applicable, the applicant should discuss plans for sharing and distribution of non-data resources that will be generated by the proposed project, including animal strains, protocols, biomaterials, and reagents. The SCGE DCC will work with all SCGE program investigators to collect, curate, and disseminate information regarding tools and reagents being developed by the program and to disseminate this information through the SCGE Toolkit and other sources as appropriate.

Specific Plan for Sharing Software: A software dissemination plan, with appropriate timelines, is expected in applications that are developing software. There is no prescribed single license for software produced in this project; however, reviewers will be asked to evaluate the software sharing and dissemination plan based on its likely impact. A dissemination plan guided by the following principles is thought to promote the largest impact:

The software should be freely available to biomedical researchers and educators in the non-profit sector, such as institutions of education, research institutions, and government laboratories.

The terms should also permit the dissemination and commercialization of enhanced or customized versions of the software, or incorporation of the software or pieces of it into other software packages.

To preserve utility to the community, the software should be transferable such that another individual or team can continue development in the event that the original investigators are unwilling or unable to do so.

The terms of software availability should include the ability of researchers outside the project and its collaborating projects to modify the source code and to share modifications with other colleagues. An applicant should take responsibility for creating the original and subsequent "official" versions of a piece of software.

Applicants are asked to propose a plan to manage and disseminate the improvements or customizations of their tools and resources by others. This proposal may include a plan to incorporate the enhancements into the "official" core software, may involve the creation of an infrastructure for plug-ins, or may describe some other solution.

Any software dissemination plans represent a commitment by the institution (and its subcontractors as applicable) to support and abide by the plan.

Applicants should also be familiar with the NIH statements regarding intellectual property of resources developed with Federal funds (NIH Research Tools Policy (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property_64FR72090.pdf) and other related NIH sharing policies at http://sharing.nih.gov).

Prior to funding, NIH Program Staff may negotiate modifications to the Sharing Plan with the applicant.

Appendix:

Limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Overall)

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are Human Subjects Involved?" on the R&R Other Project Information form, there must be at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record within the application. The study record(s) must be included in the component(s) where the work is being done, unless the same study spans multiple components. To avoid the creation of duplicate study records, a single study record with sufficient information for all involved components must be included in the Overall component when the same study spans multiple components.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

When preparing your application in ASSIST, use Component Type 'Admin Core.'

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

Complete only the following fields:

• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Human Subjects:

Answer only the 'Are Human Subjects Involved?' and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations?' questions.

Vertebrate Animals:

Answer only the 'Are Vertebrate Animals Used?' question.

Project Narrative:

Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of 'Other' with Category of 'Core Lead' and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package.

The PD/PI (one of the PD/PIs if a multi-PI application) efforts across all components should be total at least 1.2 person months (10%) of full time professional effort to the program. There will be two annual in-person Consortium meetings in the Washington, DC area. PD/PIs for each project will include travel to attend such meetings in their budgets. The SCGE DCC will be responsible for convening SCGE Program Steering Committee meetings. The budget to transfer reporter animals to the Testing Center facilities will be provided by the investigators funded under the RFA-RM-18-013.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

Specific Aims: State concisely the goals and administrative structure of the proposed Coordination Section.

Research Strategy: The Coordination Section will provide multidisciplinary scientific leadership for the research Testing Center by PDs/PIs, who have expertise in the appropriate area of the research activities. This unit will effectively coordinate interactions and collaboration of the projects, cores and investigators as well as coordinate activities with the SCGE DCC, other components of the program, the NIH SCGE Working Group, and the Program Official. The application should clearly define the management plan for the proposed project, and how it will support achievement of the proposed goals and milestones. The application should also describe the plans for evaluation of progress across the Testing Center and communication strategies to manage and track progress of the multiple projects that make up the Testing Center.

The Coordination Section should coordinate participation in Testing Center program evaluation activities, including progress reports, site visits, and providing additional communication and materials to the NIH SCGE Working Group as needed.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Resource Sharing Plans should be consolidated in the Overall Component.

Appendix:

Limited items are allowed in the Appendix.Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Coordination Section)

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are Human Subjects Involved?" on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

When preparing your application in ASSIST, use Component Type 'Core.'

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

SF424 (R&R) Cover (Genome Editing Testing Section)

Complete only the following fields:

• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement (Genome Editing Testing Section)

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Research & Related Other Project Information (Genome Editing Testing Section)

Human Subjects: Answer only the 'Are Human Subjects Involved?' and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations?' questions.

Vertebrate Animals: Answer only the 'Are Vertebrate Animals Used?' question.

Project Narrative: Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

Project /Performance Site Location(s) (Genome Editing Testing Section)

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Genome Editing Testing Section)

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of 'Other' with Category of 'Core Lead' and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget (Genome Editing Testing Section)

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package.

The PD/PI (one of the PD/PIs if a multi-PI application) efforts across all components should be total at least 1.2 person months (10%) of full time professional effort to the program.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

PHS 398 Research Plan (Genome Editing Testing Section)

Specific Aims: List each aim for the Resource Section and how it supports the overall objectives of this research program.

Research Strategy: State concisely the goals of the proposed Genome Editing Testing Section and summarize the expected outcome (s), including the impact that the results of this section will exert on the whole Testing Center. The additional specific items to be addressed in this section include but are not limited to the following:

• Provide preliminary or published data, if available, that support using the approaches to be used.
• Describe in detail functional assays and SOPs for evaluation of genome editing in specific cells and tissues in wild-type animals, including evidence of experience with the relevant techniques e.g. immunohistochemistry, fluorescence microscopy, DNA or RNA sequencing.
• Describe in detail plans for testing the safety of the genome editing technologies, including at a minimum duration of genome editing activity, inflammation and immunogenicity. All those activities will be conducted in tight interaction with SCGE Delivery Technologies (RFA-RM-18-016) and in collaboration with SCGE Editing Systems (RFA-RM-18-017) components, therefore consultations and negotiation will be required with grantees of the awarded grants under those accompanying components.
• Describe plans for the collaboration with other components of the program, to design and improve the whole network operations and implement protocols.
• Define what data will be collected, how it will be analyzed and provided to the SCGE DCC and at what frequency.
• Provide additional experimental details and methods to validate the results and alternative strategies if not successful at first.
• Indicate the Testing Center capacity, how many animals can be tested and analyzed in a specific time frame.
• Describe plans to increase the rigor and reproducibility of the outcomes (see: https://www.nih.gov/research-training/rigor-reproducibility) whenever appropriate for the model or system being studied; describe approaches, if available, for analyzing potential sex differences of model organisms, particularly if relevant to the potential editing tool applications.

Provide a timeline and preliminary set of milestones for: 1) creating wild-type animal cohorts and establishing assays and SOPs for testing delivery vehicles and genome editing tools, evaluating the safety of the genome editing technologies, including but not limited to duration of the genome editing activity, immunogenicity and inflammation; 2) acquisition of reporter animal strains created by accompanying components, verification of the reporter animal performance using standard delivery vehicles and genome editing tools; 3) archiving germ cells and increasing the population of the colony of the reporter animals sufficient to conduct testing of new materials developed in accompanying components of the program; 4) acquiring and submitting data to conduct cross species comparative analysis of models created in rodents and large animal species to guide the selection of the most predictive animal models.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Resource Sharing Plans should be consolidated in the Overall Component.

Appendix:

Limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Genome Editing Testing Section)

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are Human Subjects Involved?" on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

When preparing your application in ASSIST, use Component Type 'Core.'

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

SF424 (R&R) Cover (Resource Section)

Complete only the following fields:

• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement (Resource Section)

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Research & Related Other Project Information (Resource Section)

Human Subjects: Answer only the 'Are Human Subjects Involved?' and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations?' questions.

Vertebrate Animals: Answer only the 'Are Vertebrate Animals Used?' question.

Project Narrative: Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

Project /Performance Site Location(s) (Resource Section)

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Resource Section)

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of 'Other' with Category of 'Core Lead' and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget (Resource Section)

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package.

The PD/PI (one of the PD/PIs if a multi-PI application) efforts across all components should be total at least 1.2 person months (10%) of full time professional effort to the program.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

PHS 398 Research Plan (Resource Section)

Specific Aims: List each aim for the Resource Section and how it supports the overall objectives of this research program.

Research Strategy: State concisely the goals of the proposed Resource Section and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed Resource Section will exert on the ability of the Testing Center to use wild type and reporter animals for evaluating the delivery systems and editing tools. Describe in detail strategies for genotyping, verification of the tester properties, archiving, breeding and maintaining cohorts of the wild-type and reporter animals. Describe mechanisms to ensure internal quality control of ongoing Section activities. State the Testing Center capacity in generation and maintenance of the wild type and reporter animals (after they will be deposited to the Testing Center by investigators funded under the RFA-RM-18-013).

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Resource Sharing Plans should be consolidated in the Overall Component.

Appendix:

Limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Resource Section)

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are Human Subjects Involved?" on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies) using ASSIST or other electronic submission systems. Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH's electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

For information on how your application will be automatically assembled for review and funding consideration after submission go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/Electronic_Multi-project_Application_Image_Assembly.pdf.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit Applying Electronically. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Guidelines for Applicants Experiencing System Issues. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.

Important reminders:

All PD(s)/PI(s) and component Project Leads must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.

The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization's profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management (SAM). Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

The requests by NIH intramural scientists will be limited to the incremental costs required for participation. As such, these requests will not include any salary and related fringe benefits for career, career conditional or other Federal employees (civilian or uniformed service) with permanent appointments under existing position ceilings or any costs related to administrative or facilities support (equivalent to Facilities and Administrative or F&A costs). These costs may include salary for staff to be specifically hired under a temporary appointment for the project, consultant costs, equipment, supplies, travel, and other items typically listed under Other Expenses. Applicants should indicate the number of person-months devoted to the project, even if no funds are requested for salary and fringe benefits.

If selected, appropriate funding will be provided by the NIH Common Fund through the NIH Intramural Program. NIH intramural scientists will participate in this program as PDs/PIs in accord with the Terms and Conditions provided in this FOA. Intellectual property will be managed in accord with established policy of the NIH in compliance with Executive Order 10096, as amended, 45 CFR Part 7; patent rights for inventions developed in NIH facilities are NIH property unless NIH waives its rights.

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the Center to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the Center proposed).

Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a Center that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.

Does the Center address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is there a strong scientific premise for the project? If the aims of the Center are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the Center? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI , do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

Specific to this FOA:

Does the Testing Center have the necessary expertise to support the team science environment needed to complete the proposed multidisciplinary work?

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the Center? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?

If the Center involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address 1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of children, justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

Specific to this FOA:

Do the SOPs for evaluating genome editing in target cells and tissues contain the appropriate positive and negative controls to allow valid conclusions about the effectiveness of the genome editing delivery systems? Does the design and operating plan provide an opportunity for collaboration, integration, and interaction within the SCGE Program, including working directly with SCGE Delivery Technologies awardees, and collaborating with SCGE Editing Systems awardees?

Does the project demonstrate plans for ongoing communication and sharing of data and resources within the Testing Center and the whole program? Do applicants describe how they will work with the SCGE DCC as well as with the SCGE Program Steering Committee to define the testing service priorities and mode of operation that best matches the needs of the whole consortium within broad guidelines of parity, openness, cost-effectiveness, timeliness, as defined by the SCGE Program Steering Committee, the NIH and its advisors?

Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

As applicable for the Center proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

The Coordination Section will receive a merit descriptor (outstanding, acceptable, unacceptable) for the following:

• Is the proposed administrative structure likely to function effectively in achieving the aims of the Testing Center? Is the management plan well integrated and likely to facilitate achieving section goals and objectives?
• Is there evidence that the scientific staff will interact productively with the SCGE DCC, other components of the program, the NIH SCGE Working Group and the Program Official?
• Are plans to evaluate the progress across the Testing Center, communication management strategies and progress tracking of the multiple projects that make up the Testing Center adequate?
• Are details for the Coordination Section activities to coordinate participation in Testing Center evaluation activities, including progress reports, site visits and additional communication materials to the NIH SCGE Working Group described?

As applicable for the Genome Editing Testing Section proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

The Genome Editing Testing Section will receive a merit descriptor (outstanding, acceptable, unacceptable) for the following:

• Are the plans for functional assays and SOPs for evaluation of genome editing in specific cells and tissues in wild-type animals described adequate to achieve the goals? Does the application include evidence of experience with the relevant techniques?
• Do the plans for the development of functional assays and SOPs for the tests allow conduct of comparative analysis of the new technologies, effectiveness and precision of the delivery systems and genome modifications?
• Are the plans for testing the safety of the genome editing technologies described and adequate?
• Is a plan for tight interaction with SCGE Delivery Technologies, and collaboration with SCGE Editing Systems presented?
• Are plans adequate for collaboration with other components of the program and sufficient to design and improve the whole network operations and implement protocols?
• Do investigators describe the type of the data which will be collected, the way it will be analyzed and provided to the SCGE DCC and at what frequency?
• Are experimental details and methods to validate the results and alternative strategies, if not successful at first, presented?
• Are plans described to increase the rigor and reproducibility of the outcomes and approaches for analyzing potential sex differences of model organisms, particularly if relevant to the potential editing tool applications?
• Are a timeline and preliminary set of milestones provided and reasonable for: 1) creating wild-type animal cohorts and establishing assays and SOPs for testing delivery vehicles and genome editing tools, evaluating the safety of the genome editing technologies, including but not limited to duration of the genome editing activity, immunogenicity and inflammation; 2) acquisition of reporter animal strains created by accompanying initiatives, verification of the reporter animal performance using standard delivery vehicles and genome editing tools; 3) archiving germ cells and increasing the population of the colony of the reporter animals sufficient to conduct testing of new materials developed in accompanying components of the program; 4) acquiring and submitting data to conduct cross species comparative analysis of models created in rodents and large animal species to guide the selection of the most predictive animal models?

As applicable for the Resource Section proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

The Resource Section will receive a merit descriptor (outstanding, acceptable, unacceptable) for the following:

• Are the goals of the proposed Resource Section and the expected outcome(s), reasonable and achievable, including the impact that the results of the proposed Resource Section will exert on the ability of the Testing Center to provide wild-type and reporter animals for the evaluation of the delivery systems and editing tools?
• Are strategies described and adequate to reach project goals for genotyping, verification of the tester properties, breeding and maintaining cohorts of the wild-type and reporter animals?
• Are mechanisms provided to ensure internal quality control of ongoing Resource Section activities sufficient to maintain high quality standards of animal strains and services to the whole program and biomedical community?

For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.

When the proposed Center involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of children to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.

The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.

Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

As applicable for the Center proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Not applicable

Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).

Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: 1) Data Sharing Plan; 2) Sharing Model Organisms; and 3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan .

For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s), convened by the Center for Scientific Review in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:

• May undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
• Will receive a written critique.

Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.

Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
• Availability of funds.
• Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantee's business official.

Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.

Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.

All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person's race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator's scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.

For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/section1557/index.html; and https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.

In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 "Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants." This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

The following special terms of award are in addition to, and not in lieu of, otherwise applicable U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) administrative guidelines, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) grant administration regulations at 45 CFR Parts 75, and other HHS, PHS, and NIH grant administration policies.

The administrative and funding instrument used for the SCGE program will be the cooperative agreement, an "assistance" mechanism (rather than an "acquisition" mechanism), in which substantial NIH programmatic involvement with the awardees is anticipated during the performance of the activities. Under the cooperative agreement, the NIH purpose is to support and stimulate the recipients' activities by involvement in and otherwise working jointly with the award recipients in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this concept, the dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the awardees for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the awardees and the NIH as defined below. Awardee will retain custody of and have primary rights to the data and software developed under this award, subject to Government rights of access consistent with current DHHS, PHS, and NIH policies.

The PD(s)/PI(s) will have the primary responsibility for:

• Determining research approaches, designing protocols, setting project milestones, and conducting research.
• Participating in group activities, including a Consortium-wide SCGE Program Steering Committee and subcommittees as needed.
• The SCGE Consortium will meet in person at least twice a year and the SCGE Program Steering Committee will recommend the frequency of other in-person and teleconference meetings.
• Providing reports and data in a timely fashion as agreed upon by the SCGE Program Steering Committee.
• Submitting all validation data as soon as they are collected to the SCGE DCC for quality control and compilation in the SCGE Toolkit.
• Preparing abstracts, presentations and publications and collaborating Consortium-wide in making the public and professionals aware of the program.
• Assessing and disseminating data, protocols, and methods developed for or derived from the SCGE program within and outside the Consortium.
• Adhering to policies regarding data sharing and publication established by the NIH and the SCGE Program Steering Committee.
• Abiding by common definitions, protocols, and procedures, as chosen by majority vote of the SCGE Program Steering Committee.
• Submitting periodic progress reports in a standard format, as agreed upon by the SCGE Program Steering Committee and NIH SCGE Working Group.
• Attending and participating in SCGE Program Steering Committee meetings and accepting and implementing decisions by the NIH SCGE Working Group, as appropriate.

NIH staff have substantial programmatic involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as described below:

The NIH SCGE Working Group consists of NIH programmatic staff from multiple Institutes and Centers of the NIH as well as the Office of the Director.

The NIH Project Scientist(s) will have substantial scientific and programmatic involvement during the conduct of this activity through technical assistance, advice, and coordination. However, the role of NIH staff will be to facilitate and not to direct the activities. The Project Scientist(s) will participate as members of the SCGE Program Steering Committee and will have one vote. The Project Scientist(s) will have the following substantial involvement:

• Participating with the other SCGE Program Steering Committee members in addressing issues that arise with SCGE planning, operation, assessment, and data analysis. The Project Scientist(s) will assist and facilitate the group process and not direct it.
• Serving as a liaison, helping to coordinate activities, including acting as a liaison to other NIH Institutes/Centers, and as an information resource for the awardees. The Project Scientist(s) will also help coordinate the efforts of the SCGE Consortium with other groups conducting similar efforts.
• Attending all SCGE Program Steering Committee meetings as a voting member, assisting in developing standard operating procedures, and consistent policies for dealing with situations that require coordinated action. The Project Scientist(s) will be responsible for working with the grantee as needed to manage the logistic aspects of the SCGE program.
• Reporting periodically on SCGE progress to the Common Fund SCGE Working Group and through it to the NIH Common Fund.
• Serving on subcommittees of the SCGE Program Steering Committee as appropriate.
• Assisting awardees in the development, if needed, of policies for dealing with situations that require coordinated action.
• Providing advice in the management and technical performance of the award.
• Assisting in promoting the availability of the data and related resources developed in the course of this program to the scientific community at large.
• Participating in data analyses, interpretations, and, where warranted, co-authorship of the publication of results of studies conducted through the program.
• Other NIH SCGE Working Group staff may assist the awardee as designated by the Program Official.

Additionally, an agency program official or IC program director will be responsible for the normal scientific and programmatic stewardship of the award and will be named in the award notice. The assigned Program Official may also serve as an NIH Working Group Project Scientist(s) to assist the awardee.

NIH reserves the right to withhold funding or curtail an award in the event of:

• Substantive changes in the project, or failure to make sufficient progress toward the work scope with which NIH concurred, or
• Ethical or conflict of interest issues.

Areas of Joint Responsibility include:

Close interaction among the participating investigators will be required, as well as significant involvement from the NIH, to manage, assess, and disseminate the SCGE program. The awardees and the Project Scientist(s) will meet in person with the SCGE Program Steering Committee twice a year and on conference calls as needed to share information on methodologies, analytical tools, and preliminary results. PDs/PIs, key co-investigators and pre- and post-doctoral trainees, especially those who are members of under-represented minority groups or those from different but related disciplines, are eligible to attend these meetings.

The SCGE Program Steering Committee will serve as the main scientific body of the program. The SCGE Program Steering Committee will be responsible for coordinating the activities being conducted by the program and is the committee through which the NIH SCGE Working Group formally interacts with the SCGE investigators. The SCGE Program Steering Committee membership will include PD(s)/PI(s) of each SCGE award (limited to one person for a Project with multiple PIs), other staff as needed (ex-officio) and the NIH Project Scientist(s). The SCGE Program Steering Committee may add additional members, and other government staff may attend the SCGE Program Steering Committee meetings as desired. Each project will have one vote and the NIH Program Scientist(s) together will have one vote.

The SCGE Program Steering Committee may establish subcommittees as needed to address particular issues, which will include representatives from the program and the NIH and possibly other experts. The SCGE Program Steering Committee will have the overall responsibility of assessing and prioritizing the progress of the various subcommittees.

The SCGE awardee agrees to work collaboratively to:

• Provide for secure, accurate and timely data submission.
• Participate in presenting and publishing new processes and substantive findings.
• Assess and disseminate the SCGE Toolkit.
• Participate in the governance of the SCGE program as a member of the SCGE Program Steering Committee.
• Interact with other relevant NIH activities, as needed, to promote synergy and consistency among similar projects.

External Scientific Panel (ESP):

• An ESP will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating the progress of the entire SCGE program. The ESP will also, as appropriate and at the request of the NIH SCGE Working Group, provide input to the NIH about the progress of the individual SCGE projects in meeting their individual and Consortium goals and milestones. The ESP will be composed of 4-6 senior, non-federal scientific experts who are not directly involved in the activities of the SCGE program. NIH will appoint members to the ESP and select one member as chair. The SCGE POs, PSs, NIH SCGE Working Group, and other NIH staff may attend the ESP meetings.
• The ESP will meet at least once a year, in conjunction with a meeting of the SCGE Program Steering Committee in the DC Metro area, to allow the ESP members to interact directly with the awardees, and by phone or email, at other times as needed.
• Annually, the ESP members will provide their individual assessments to the NIH of the progress of the SCGE Consortium, and, as necessary, will present recommendations regarding any changes to the SCGE program. The assessments and recommendations will be provided, through the NIH SCGE Working Group, to the Director of the Office of Strategic Coordination, NIH.

Dispute Resolution:

Any disagreements that may arise in scientific or programmatic matters (within the scope of the award) between award recipients and the NIH may be brought to Dispute Resolution. A Dispute Resolution Panel composed of three members will be convened. It will have three members: a designee of the SCGE Program Steering Committee chosen without NIH staff voting, one NIH designee, and a third designee with expertise in the relevant area who is chosen by the other two; in the case of individual disagreement, the first member may be chosen by the individual awardee. This special dispute resolution procedure does not alter the awardee's right to appeal an adverse action that is otherwise appealable in accordance with PHS regulation 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart D and DHHS regulation 45 CFR Part 16.

When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.

In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.

eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons registration, submitting and tracking an application, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, post submission issues)
Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and submission, downloading forms and application packages)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: [email protected]

GrantsInfo (Questions regarding application instructions and process, finding NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573

Oleg Mirochnitchenko, PhD
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP))
Telephone: 301-435-0748
Email: [email protected]

Elena Smirnova, Ph.D.
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
Telephone: 301-357-9112
Email: [email protected]

Jenelle Wiggins
National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS))
Telephone: 301-435-0843
Email: [email protected]

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Part 75.