National Institutes of Health Center for Genomic Studies on Mental Disorders (U24) Grant

The NIMH seeks to continue, enhance, and enrich research resources in the NIMH Human Genetics Initiative for free and open sharing with the scientific community. NIMH seeks Research Resource Center applications (U24) under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The long-term objective of data sharing and research resource enrichment under this FOA is to accelerate gene discovery in mental disorders. It is expected that the Center will be comprised of a team of investigators with expertise in molecular biology, computer and information sciences, statistical genetics and psychiatric genetics. It is expected that this effort will involve activities at multiple institutions that are strategically and functionally coordinated such that the Center will function as a single, national resource. A new critical feature of the Center will be the establishment of a genomic cyberinfrastructure that represents the coordinated aggregate of software, hardware and other technologies, as well as human expertise, required to support current and future discoveries in the genetics of mental disorders. This cyberinfrastructure will integrate relevant and often disparate genetic and genomic resources to provide a useful, usable, and enabling framework for human genetic research and gene discovery in mental disorders that will be characterized by broad access and end-to-end coordination. -Mechanism of Support. This FOA will utilize the NIH Resource-Related Research Projects  Cooperative Agreements (U24) funding mechanism. -Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards. NIMH intends to commit $7,000,000 in FY 2008. The anticipated number of awards is one, with an expected duration of 5 years.