NIAMS Resource-based Centers for Bone, Muscle and Orthopaedic Research (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

NIAMS Resource-based Centers for Bone, Muscle and Orthopaedic Research (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is sponsored by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Expired RFA-AR-24-002: NIAMS Resource-based Centers for Bone, Muscle and Orthopaedic Research (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) This notice has expired. Check the NIH Guide for active opportunities and notices. Department of Health and Human Services Part 1.

Overview Information Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) Components of Participating Organizations National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases ( NIAMS ) Funding Opportunity Title NIAMS Resource-based Centers for Bone, Muscle and Orthopaedic Research (P30 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOT-OD-22-189 - Implementation Details for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy NOT-OD-22-195 - New NIH "FORMS-H" Grant Application Forms and Instructions Coming for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2023 NOT-OD-22-198 - Implementation Changes for Genomic Data Sharing Plans Included with Applications Due on or after January 25, 2023 NOT-OD-23-012 - Reminder: FORMS-H Grant Application Forms & Instructions Must be Used for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2023 - New Grant Application Instructions Now Available Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number Companion Funding Opportunity Only one application per institution is allowed, as defined in Section III.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility . Assistance Listing Number(s) Funding Opportunity Purpose The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) requests applications for the NIAMS Resource-based Centers Program (P30) for research areas within its mission in bone, muscle, and orthopaedic research.

The Resource-based Centers will provide critical research infrastructure, shared facilities, services, and resources to groups of investigators conducting research on bone, muscle, and orthopaedic biology and diseases, enabling them to conduct their independently funded individual or collaborative research projects more efficiently and effectively, with the broad overall goal of accelerating, enriching, and enhancing the effectiveness of ongoing basic, translational, and clinical research and promoting new research within these areas of the NIAMS mission.

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) Letter of Intent Due Date(s) 30 days prior to the application due date Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed) All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

No late applications will be accepted for this Funding Opportunity Announcement. Required Application Instructions 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 ).

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 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 Part 2.

Full Text of Announcement Section I.

Funding Opportunity Description The NIAMS requests applications for the NIAMS Resource-based Centers Program (P30) to provide critical research infrastructure, shared facilities, services, and resources to groups of investigators conducting research on bone, muscle, and orthopaedic biology and diseases, with the broad overall goal of accelerating, enriching, and enhancing the effectiveness of ongoing basic, translational, and clinical research and promoting new research on bone, muscle, and orthopaedics within the NIAMS mission.

The Centers could potentially facilitate projects in many areas of bone, muscle, and orthopaedics, including musculoskeletal tissue engineering and regenerative medicine research on muscles, skeleton, cartilage, and other connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments.

Key public health problems addressed by this research include, but are not limited to, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, orthopaedic disorders, and muscle diseases including the muscular dystrophies. The NIAMS uses a number of centers grant mechanisms to support research that require synergistic, integrated groups of investigators, significant infrastructure, and/or technological innovations.

NIAMS convened a Centers Evaluation Working Group (CEWG) to advise the Institute as to how the Centers programs could be more responsive and supportive to current research needs and opportunities.

The CEWG concluded that NIAMS should allow flexibility and dynamism in the design, structure, and conduct of its Centers, to accommodate the variable needs of NIAMS research areas that differ with respect to investigator community, resource availability, and knowledge depth and breadth (see NIAMS Centers Evaluation Working Group Report; https://www. niams. nih.

gov/niams-centers-evaluation-working-group-report ). The CEWG recommended that the "NIAMS Centers should prioritize improving access to resources, using as review criteria i) the importance of the resource and ii) the potential impact of providing access to that resource".

NIAMS expects that the Resource-based Centers Program will: Efficiently provide critical research infrastructure to advance fields within the NIAMS mission Include Cores that offer resources and services in addition to equipment and other infrastructure Contribute or facilitate significant innovations in research and technology Facilitate expansion of research fields within the NIAMS mission Foster innovative exploratory projects and junior investigators Have flexibility to adopt and adapt to emerging needs and opportunities NIAMS Resource-based Centers Program Description The emphasis of the NIAMS Resource-based Centers Program is to improve access to critical research infrastructure, shared facilities, services, and resources.

Each Center will contain one or more Resource Cores that serve a strong research community. For the purposes of this particular announcement, the research community is defined as those investigators (and their funded projects) who will use Center resources for research within the focus of the Center, which should be within the NIAMS mission.

Successful Resource-based Centers are expected to expand the chosen field(s), provide new research opportunities, and increase the efficiency and impact of research due to resource access. The focus of the Center is determined by the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and may encompass basic, translational, and/or clinical research.

For this particular announcement, the Center focus is restricted to bone, muscle, and orthopaedic research areas within the NIAMS mission.

The focus of the Center may be very broad (e.g., bone, muscle, and orthopaedic research in general) and serve a diverse group of investigators including individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences ( NOT-OD-20-031 ) that share the need for critical common core services. Alternatively, a Center may have a narrow disease or biology focus or theme.

In some cases, the relevant research community may share a highly specialized resource such as a well-defined patient cohort with associated patient data and biospecimens or may share a need for highly specialized technologies and services (e.g., advanced imaging, single cell analysis, or computational biology and machine learning).

Potential PDs/PIs are strongly encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research Contact listed in Section VII. Agency Contacts early in the application planning process to discuss the NIAMS mission relevance and FOA responsiveness. It has become increasingly common and feasible for investigators at different institutions to collaborate to achieve common goals.

Therefore, to facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary research, resources and investigators may be distributed at different institutions and different geographic regions, particularly for resources that do not need to be duplicated at every research site. Similarly, the research community may be defined at the national or regional level and may include foreign collaborators.

Centers designed to serve a research community primarily at a single institution should include outreach plans to expand access to researchers from other institutions to maximize the value of the Center resources. The NIAMS Resource-based Centers will provide support for One or more Resource Cores An Administrative Core that includes a Center Enrichment Program Each Center must include one or more Resource Cores.

A Resource Core is a facility or resource shared by or providing services to multiple research community investigators, enabling them to conduct their independently funded individual or collaborative research projects more efficiently and effectively.

The selection of Resource Cores is left up to the PD/PI, but should be justified by the needs of the research community and should be appropriate for the focus of the Center, which should be within the NIAMS mission. Resource Cores may be located at multiple institutions separated geographically as long as the PI can justify the feasibility of such arrangement.

For the purpose of this FOA, examples of Resource Cores include, but are not limited to, Cores providing the following: A technology that lends itself to standardized procedures, automation, or preparation in large batches (e.g., histology, tissue culture, biobanking, high throughput sequencing, genotyping, and other genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and microbiomic assays) or that requires complex instrumentation (e.g., electron microscopy, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, intravital microscopy, whole animal imaging, and mass spectrometry).

Animal preparation (including transgenic, knockout, and other forms of genetic engineering/gene editing) and care. Highly specialized technologies, tools, and expertise such as genetics, medical informatics, bioinformatics, biostatistics, systems biology, computational biology and machine learning, and pharmacogenomics.

Critical infrastructure to support broad sharing of accessible pre-existing patient cohorts and registries, including appropriately consented patient samples and associated clinical data. A single Center may propose multiple Resource Cores offering different types of technologies, services, and critical resources.

However, applications solely focusing on a clinical methodology core(s) supporting outcomes, epidemiology, clinical trials, and/or health services research exclusively are not responsive to this FOA and will not be reviewed. Prior consultation with the NIAMS Scientific/Research contact is strongly recommended.

Although the Cores themselves are not required to be innovative, they should be "state-of-the-art" and drive innovation within the research community. In addition, Cores are encouraged to support limited research focused on technology development or adaptation of technologies to meet the needs of the research community through new or unique state-of-the-art core services.

Resource Core support may include personnel, equipment, supplies, services, and facilities. It is expected that the Resource Cores will be sustainable in their operation and receive some reimbursement for the cost of providing services or other resources through user fees, making the prospect of sustainability at the conclusion of NIAMS support feasible.

Cores are encouraged to leverage existing resources, such as registries, tissue banks, and cohorts, and to coordinate with other Cores at the same or nearby institutions, particularly if they provide similar or overlapping technologies and services. Cores may support existing service cores, but should add value beyond the normal use of a resource by fee-for-service or simple access.

Whenever possible, generic services (e.g., histology, flow cytometry, genetically engineered animals), whether offered by new or existing Cores, should be customized to meet the needs of the research community.

Examples of such customization include the provision of relevant reliable monoclonal antibodies (e.g., for immunostaining of cells and tissues, for flow cytometry, or for ChIP-seq) and tissue or cell type-specific promoters and cre-drivers for genetically engineered animal studies.

All Cores are strongly encouraged to enhance the value of the resources they offer through education and training on technologies and other resources offered by the Core, as well as consultation on experimental design and data analysis and interpretation.

Applicants from institutions that have a Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) funded by the NIH may wish to identify the CTSA as a resource for supporting the research community. The Administrative Core has oversight responsibility for the entire Resource-based Center (P30) and also plans and carries out activities that promote the goals of the Center.

These goals and activities are selected by the PD/PI of the application, but at the very least need to include outreach activities that promote use of the resources offered by the Center as well as enrichment activities that expand the research community or promote innovative research on the topic of focus of the Center and within the NIAMS mission.

Outreach for Centers that have a research community at a single institution should extend beyond the borders of that institution in order to make Center resources more available wherever possible. The Administrative Core should have a Director, an Associate Director, and an Advisory Committee to coordinate the Center activities and to evaluate and improve the Center.

The Director of the Administrative Core is also the Director of the overall Center. The Advisory Committee should include users of the scientific cores and experts outside the Center with expertise in the management of scientific core facilities.

This Committee should help the Director and Associate Director to regularly evaluate and optimize strategies to meet the scientific needs of the research community over the course of the grant award. The following are examples of additional goals that would be appropriate for a Resource-based Center. This list is neither mandatory nor inclusive.

PDs/PIs are encouraged to propose other innovative goals.

Provides leadership for research on the topic of focus by the Center Expands the research community by attracting new investigators and established investigators from other fields Enhances the research environment and promotes synergistic collaborations or interdisciplinary research The Administrative Core must include an Enrichment Program that is designed to expand the research community and/or promote innovative research on the topic of focus of the Center.

The Enrichment Program should include outreach activities for the Resource Core(s). Each Center may choose the activities that best suit the needs of the research community, but all activities should occur within the context of or with the involvement of the Resource Core(s).

Through this Enrichment Program, the Administrative Core can utilize the Resource Cores to nurture the career development of new investigators, attract investigators from other research fields, enhance the biomedical research workforce by including investigators from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented backgrounds (see, e.g., Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity, NOT-OD-20-031 ), develop new technologies, or foster new collaborations with investigators who have not previously engaged in research within the focus of the Center.

The Enrichment Program may include a Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) grant program, but this is optional. Innovative approaches to the Enrichment Program are encouraged. Applications Not Responsive to this FOA Applications proposing the following topics will be considered non-responsive to this RFA and will not be reviewed: Support for research not within the NIAMS mission .

Support for research not focused on bone, muscle, or orthopaedic biology or diseases. Centers solely focused on clinical methodology core(s) supporting outcomes, epidemiology, clinical trials, and health services research. See Section VIII.

Other Information for award authorities and regulations. Section II. Award Information Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.

Application Types Allowed The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this FOA. Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials.

Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial? Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. NIAMS intends to commit up to $2 million direct costs in FY2024 to fund a maximum of four awards.

Application budgets are limited to $500,000 direct costs per year. The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years.

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

Eligibility Information 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: Hispanic-serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions 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 (Other than Small Businesses) 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 U.S. Territory or Possession 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 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.

System for Award Management (SAM) 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. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) - A UEI is issued as part of the SAM. gov registration process.

The same UEI must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application. eRA Commons - Once the unique organization identifier is established, organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their Grants. gov registration; all registrations must be in place by time of submission.

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 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.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator) 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 diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. See, Reminder: Notice of NIH's Encouragement of Applications Supporting Individuals from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups as well as Individuals with Disabilities, NOT-OD-22-019 .

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 . 3.

Additional Information on Eligibility Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique UEI or NIH IPF number) is allowed. The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, per 2. 3.

7. 4 Submission of Resubmission Application . 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) application.

An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see 2. 3. 9.

4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications ). Section IV. Application and Submission Information 1.

Requesting an Application Package The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system solution. A button to apply using ASSIST 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.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission 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. 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: All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Component Type for Submission The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA. Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Management and Sharing Plan will be attached in the Other Plan(s) attachment in FORMS-H application forms packages.

Revision applications must include an Overall component and the components that are affected by the revision. Therefore, the component requirements listed below may not apply to the revision application. The application should consist of the following components: Administrative Core: required; 1 maximum Resource Cores: required; 1 minimum When preparing your application, use Component Type Overall .

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted. SF424(R&R) Cover (Overall) PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement (Overall) Note: Human Embryonic Stem Cell lines from other components should be repeated in cell line table in Overall component. Research & Related Other Project Information (Overall) Follow standard instructions.

Facilities and Other Resources: For each institution that is hosting a Resource Core, briefly describe the features of the institutional environment that are relevant to the effective implementation of the proposed Center. List institutional resources available to the Center and elaborate on how these resources will contribute to the success of the Center.

As appropriate, describe available resources, such as clinical and laboratory facilities, participating and affiliated units, patient populations, geographic distribution of space and personnel, and consultative resources. Include a list of who occupies specific space, the square feet and equipment in that space, and a designation of the Center functions associated with the spaces.

Applicants may include Campus maps and floor plans to illustrate the physical space available for the proposed Resource Cores and Administrative Core. Describe institutional commitments for space or other resources for the proposed Center. Other Attachments: The following supportive data tables should be included with the Overall Component.

The filename provided for each attachment will be the name used for the bookmark in the application image. Table of "Grants Supporting the Research Community": A table listing the grants relevant to the focus of the Center held by investigators in the research community, their duration, the current year direct cost, and their PD/PIs must be included. This table is particularly important for Centers that propose service cores.

Avoid an exhaustive list of grants with indistinct relationship to the Center. It is helpful to group the grants into aggregates of projects with similar overall goals and objectives. A suggested format is given in Exhibit I of the Sample Exhibits .

Biographical Sketches of Research Community Investigators: Title this single attachment "Research Community Biographical Sketches." Provide biographical sketches for all investigators of the research community, as defined within the application, and organize them alphabetically by the last name of the investigator. Do not include duplicate biosketches for Senior/Key personnel.

The Personal Statement in the Biographical Sketches may be used to provide details on the research programs of the research community investigators as they relate to the research focus of the Center, and to describe how Center resources would specifically and directly impact these research programs.

Project/Performance Site Locations (Overall) 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.

Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Overall) 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.

PHS 398 Research Plan (Overall) Specific Aims: Describe the broad long-term objectives and goals of the proposed resource-based center. Include the objectives for each of the Resource Cores and the Administrative Core. The Research Strategy section of the Overall Component serves to introduce the proposed Center, to state the Center objectives, and to identify the focus (or theme) of research addressed in the proposed Center.

This section also provides a sense of the overall significance of the Center, i.e., how the Center and any unique resources it provides will impact the research community and the field(s) of research covered by the Center. For the purposes of this FOA, the research community can be defined as those investigators (and their funded projects) who will use center resources for research within the focus of the Center.

Members of a research community work in the same field or related fields and interact through common meetings, collaborations, and shared activities and resources.

This section should describe the research community, the significance of the Center with respect to the research community and field(s), the interactions among the Center Investigators and the Cores, the innovation of the Center, the approach for providing core services and resources, and any preliminary data and progress report (for renewal applications) regarding the impact of the Center on the research community.

The Research Strategy section of the Overall Component should be organized in the following fashion: Orientation to the Overall Center Describe the goals of the Center. Describe the scientific, organizational, and management structure of the Center. Include the leadership structure of the Center and the individual Resource Cores.

Include the theme or focus of the Center, the research field(s) of the Center and the research community, any needs assessments that were conducted that led to the selection of resources being shared through the Center, and unique aspects of the resources and services being offered by the Cores.

Present an overview of current research on the topics of focus of the Center conducted by the research community in sufficient detail such that its extent and the interrelationships of ongoing research are clear. A strong research community is a fundamental requirement for establishing a Center.

The research community may be defined at the local, regional, or national level (and may include foreign collaborators) as long as it is practical for the members of the research community to utilize the resources offered by the Center. However, the research community should be of sufficient size that the Center can make a major impact on research in the field.

The research community should be composed of funded investigators with well-defined connections to the focus or theme of the Center. Begin with a brief summary of the investigators in the research community and their strengths and continue with a descriptive narrative of how the Cores can enhance their projects.

This narrative presentation should be organized to address the focus and interrelationships of research conducted by the Center Investigators (including the research community investigators using the Cores and researchers leading and staffing the Cores) and how the research interests of the investigators in the research community are related to the focus or theme of the Center.

Criteria for designating an investigator as a Center investigator should be defined in terms of the responsibilities and privileges. The investigators of the research community of the proposed Center may be documented in greater detail in the Biographical Sketches (see Other Attachments) and Letters of Support.

If the Letters of Support and/or Biographical Sketches are used in this way, they should be explicitly referenced within this section. It may also be useful to highlight ongoing and past successful collaborations between investigators in the research community and the Center personnel and to document the outcomes of these collaborations (e.g., publications, grants, major scientific advances).

This section should expand on the goals of the Center and should describe the effect of the Center on the research community as well as on the field(s) of research chosen as the topic of focus of the Center. Include the importance of the resources being shared and the expected effect of providing access to those resources.

Explain the degree to which the Center is expected to accelerate progress on the aims of the research community grants and projects, improve efficiency, and enhance productivity of the research community investigators. Describe how the Center helps to expand and enhance the capabilities of the pool of investigators engaged in research related to the research topic(s) of the Center. For a Center that provides access