DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Services Provided by the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR)

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• What is CIDR?
• The NIH CIDR Program
• Applying for CIDR Services as an NCI Grantee

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CIDR Liaison for NIH

Barbara Thomas, PhD
Scientific Review Officer for CIDR, Scientific Review Branch
National Human Genome Research Institute
barbara.thomas@nih.gov

CIDR Liaison for NCI

Melissa Rotunno, PhD
Program Director, Genomic Epidemiology Branch
Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program
rotunnom@mail.nih.gov

What is CIDR?

The Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) at The Johns Hopkins University provides high-quality next-generation sequencing, genotyping, methylation, and statistical genetics services at no cost to the investigators working to discover genes that contribute to diseases.

The NIH CIDR Program

Several Institutes at the NIH support a contract with CIDR that offers investigators access to next-generation sequencing, genotyping, methylation and statistical genetics services at no cost to the investigators. Requests for services are evaluated using a competitive, peer-reviewed application process.

Applying for CIDR Services as an NCI Grantee

After obtaining clearance from NCI as described below, researchers who have submitted (or plan to submit) a grant application to NCI may apply for access to CIDR services to support the research they proposed, via the NIH contract. Researchers with grant applications funded by other NIH Institutes should obtain instructions specific to that Institute by contacting the appropriate CIDR Program Liaison.

Investigators can obtain clearance from NCI by emailing the NCI CIDR Liaison, Melissa Rotunno, Ph.D., with the following information:

1. The intended date of submission of the CIDR application and of the related NCI grant application or the NCI grant number if already submitted or awarded.
2. The title, abstract and specific aims of the proposed CIDR application and of the related NCI grant application. NOTE: The genotyping, sequencing, or other services requested must be described in the related NCI grant application.
3. The type of service and platform requested.
4. The number and type of samples to be included, specifying percentage of samples in hand, which is expected to be the majority.
5. Confirmation that the proposed study data (both molecular and phenotypic) can be shared through an NIH controlled access repository, such as dbGaP or other approved NIH cloud platforms, consistent with the consent of study participants.

Once clearance has been granted by the NCI CIDR Liaison, applications should be submitted electronically through Grants.gov using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Access to the CIDR Program is awarded using the X01 grant award mechanism. CIDR applications are accepted continuously and are reviewed six times per year. For more information about the NIH CIDR application process, visit the CIDR website or contact Barbara Thomas, Ph.D., the CIDR Liaison for NIH.

Please note that investigators can apply for access to CIDR either before or after submitting the related NCI grant application.

• If the NCI grant application is submitted after obtaining provisional access to CIDR, then such grant application’s budget should not include the cost for the CIDR services.
• If access to CIDR is not yet provisionally approved at the time of submitting the related NCI grant application, then the budget of the related NCI grant application should include the cost for the same services requested at CIDR and would be adjusted to remove those costs at the time CIDR access is granted.

In either scenario, CIDR access will be contingent on the related NCI grant application being funded, NCI CIDR funds availability, and other project specific provisions. If the project is approved for access to CIDR molecular services, investigators commit to abide by the current CIDR and NCI data sharing policies. Please note that according to the CIDR funding opportunity instructions (PAR-23-184), a Data Dictionary of the phenotypic measures to be shared though controlled access via dbGaP and/or an approved NIH cloud platform and a Data Summary of the number of subjects who have data for those measures should be approved by all collaborators and attached to the application.