Informatics, Coordination and Service Center for the Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (U42 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA OD 25 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OD 25 012

This NIH funding opportunity (RFA-OD-25-012) supports one award to continue operating the Informatics, Coordination and Service Center (ICSC) for the Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (MMRRC) consortium. The MMRRC program functions as a national repository and distribution network for mutant mouse strains used in biomedical research, and the ICSC is the hub that makes the consortium work smoothly from an informatics, coordination, and customer-facing service standpoint. The award uses the U42 cooperative agreement mechanism and is explicitly not for clinical trials.

At its core, the ICSC is expected to run and continuously improve the consortium-wide information infrastructure. That includes developing, enhancing, and maintaining the MMRRC in-house data management systems in ways that support modern expectations for data sharing and reuse. A major emphasis is on ensuring MMRRC data can integrate with other animal and non-animal resource databases and align with community standards for accessibility and interoperability. In practical terms, this points to ongoing engineering work around data models, identifiers, metadata standards, system reliability, and interfaces that make it easier for researchers to discover, interpret, and connect MMRRC strain information with related resources.

The opportunity also places heavy weight on service operations that directly affect investigators who donate strains to the MMRRC and those who order strains for research. The ICSC must maintain and further develop a public-facing website portal, operate a Customer Service Center, and run the order processing system. It is responsible for reviewing and processing applications from investigators who want to donate mouse strains, coordinating donation requests across the participating MMRRC sites, and facilitating interactions with biomedical researchers who need help navigating ordering, strain selection, or associated informatics questions. Beyond day-to-day transactions, the ICSC also serves as the consortiums institutional memory by maintaining an archive of MMRRC documents and files, which supports continuity, reporting, and program oversight.

Consortium coordination is another central requirement. The ICSC is expected to host and actively participate in recurring governance and communication activities, including a monthly teleconference and an annual consortium meeting. It must also produce reports and summaries from these meetings when requested by MMRRC members or NIH staff. This coordinating role extends to program visibility and accountability: the ICSC oversees marketing efforts for the consortium and completes routine performance reporting, including monthly and annual metrics. Taken together, these responsibilities make the ICSC both an operational command center and the main interface between the MMRRC network and the broader biomedical research community.

A distinctive feature of this NOFO is its explicit requirement for close coordination with efforts to develop and use new approach methodologies (NAMs) that complement traditional animal-based research. The announcement highlights NAM examples such as cell culture systems, organoids, computational models, and microphysiological systems. Rather than treating NAMs as separate from the MMRRC mission, the ICSC is expected to support activities that collect and analyze comparative information about how NAMs can enhance the predictive power of human disease models and how they can be integrated alongside traditional mouse models. This signals an expectation that the ICSC will help the community navigate when and how different model systems (animal and non-animal) can be used together, and to organize information in ways that make those comparisons findable and usable.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizational types, including state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and other domestic entities that meet NIH requirements. At the same time, the opportunity is clear that non-U.S. entities cannot apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components are not allowed under NIH policy for this program.

Key administrative details included in the notice are that it is a discretionary grant program administered by the National Institutes of Health, falls under CFDA 93.351, and has an original application due date of May 1, 2026. NIH anticipates making one award. The award ceiling is not listed in the provided summary, suggesting applicants need to consult the full NOFO for budget expectations, project period details, and cooperative agreement terms that typically describe NIH involvement and coordination expectations under a U42 mechanism.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Informatics, Coordination and Service Center for the Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (U42 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.351.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-12-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-05-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA OD 25 012

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