Limited Competition: Sickle Pan-African Research Consortium Clinical Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)

This limited competition Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) seeks an application from the current Sickle Pan-African Research Consortium (SPARCO) Hub in Tanzania to continue coordinating, as the Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC), activities of the renewed and expanded Consortium (SPARCO), including the 3 established sites in Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania as well as up to 3 new Consortium sites located in additional sub-Saharan African nations. Together, the CCC, the Sickle Africa Data Coordinating Center (SADaCC, see RFA-HL-21-008), as well as established and new sites of the Consortium (RFA-HL-21-009) will constitute the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Network. This network aims to develop a sustainable resource that will advance sickle cell disease related epidemiologic, translational, and clinical research studies. The SPARCO CCC application needs to propose a feasible and meritorious plan for expanding a sickle hemoglobinopathy registry database that can facilitate patient tracking and follow-up and serve as a backbone for future SCD research. In particular, this FOA seeks an application that proposes to identify database elements and plans for harmonization of SCD phenotype definitions and ontologies, and integration of Collaborative Consortium activities with those of the DCC (SADaCC), NHLBI, Steering Committee, Observational Study Monitoring Board (OSMB), and existing training programs. The application needs to describe approaches to the development of regionally appropriate standards of SCD care, as well as approaches to the organization of research and clinical skill development activities. The application also needs to include coordination of Consortium sites to allow for development, implementation, and conduct of SCD cohort studies, as well as implementation research of preventive/ therapeutic practices.