U24HD106537

Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) Supporting the Developmental Gene Expression (DGTEX) Project - Program Director/Principal Investigator (Bell, Thomas, J.)

Project Summary:

Accelerating scientific discoveries across the entire spectrum of pediatric research requires advancing our current understanding of the unique molecular profiles and physiologies in all healthy tissues across the human body. The Developmental Genotype-Tissue Expression (DGTEX) project will establish the first comprehensive public resource correlating gene expression and genetic variation in pediatric tissues from all major organ systems in the human body.

This project will identify the molecular profiles in ~30 distinct tissue types from four developmental groups: early post-natal, early childhood, pre-pubertal, and post-pubertal. DGTEX will capitalize on new emerging methodologies to capture detailed evaluations on the developing brain and include options for single-cell analysis on multiple tissues. To advance our understanding of the ethical, legal, social implications (ELSI) in pediatric tissue donation, DGTEX also includes an ELSI study to analyze these factors.

The data from DGTEX will provide an unrivaled research resource for clinicians and scientists to gain new insights on the molecular milestones of regulatory processes that direct the development of healthy tissues.

To support the advancement of DGTEX, this proposal will establish the Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) to provide the Pediatric Laboratory Data Analysis Collection Center (LDACC) with suitable tissue samples for their analysis. Our proposal includes a multi-institutional effort with extensive expertise in pediatric recoveries, research, pathology, imaging, biobanking, brain research, and cutting-edge molecular techniques, such as single-cell analysis.

The objectives for our BPC recovery team will be led by a collaborative effort amongst:

1) National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) to provide project management and coordinate the recovery collection effort from a network of TSS,
2) Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to process, store, and coordinate pathological review of all non-brain tissues and manage the bioinformatics workflow, and
3) NeuroBioBank at University of Maryland (NBB-Maryland) to process, store, and provide pathological review of brains.

This breadth of expertise is essential for the BPC to provide well-annotated, suitable biospecimens to enable reliable and reproducible results from the LDACC's cutting-edge experimental methods and rigorous data interpretations.

Improving our understanding of ELSI-specific challenges in pediatric tissue donation is an unmet need for the research community. To enable a more complete analysis of these challenges, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHACH) will coordinate the DGTEX ELSI study to include evaluations of tissue requesters (TRs) and family decision-makers (FDMs) of deceased and at-risk children.

Collectively, our BPC team is committed to developing an all-encompassing, unparalleled BPC for the DGTEX project to empower the advancement of pediatric research, ELSI challenges, and the development of new clinical approaches to treat pediatric disorders.

OMB NO. 0925-0001/0002 (REV. 03/2020 APPROVED THROUGH 02/28/2023)

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National Disease Research Interchange

TO CONDUCT AND SUPPORT LABORATORY RESEARCH, CLINICAL TRIALS, AND STUDIES WITH PEOPLE THAT EXPLORE HEALTH PROCESSES. NICHD RESEARCHERS EXAMINE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, BIOLOGIC AND REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS, BEHAVIOR PATTERNS, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS TO PROTECT AND MAINTAIN THE HEALTH OF ALL PEOPLE. TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF DISABILITIES, DISEASES, AND DEFECTS ON THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS. WITH THIS INFORMATION, THE NICHD HOPES TO RESTORE, INCREASE, AND MAXIMIZE THE CAPABILITIES OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DISEASE AND INJURY. TO SPONSOR TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SCIENTISTS, DOCTORS, AND RESEARCHERS TO ENSURE THAT NICHD RESEARCH CAN CONTINUE. BY TRAINING THESE PROFESSIONALS IN THE LATEST RESEARCH METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES, THE NICHD WILL BE ABLE TO CONDUCT ITS RESEARCH AND MAKE HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRESS UNTIL ALL CHILDREN, ADULTS, FAMILIES, AND POPULATIONS ENJOY GOOD HEALTH. THE MISSION OF THE NICHD IS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY PERSON IS BORN HEALTHY AND WANTED, THAT WOMEN SUFFER NO HARMFUL EFFECTS FROM REPRODUCTIVE PROCESSES, AND THAT ALL CHILDREN HAVE THE CHANCE TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL FOR HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES, FREE FROM DISEASE OR DISABILITY, AND TO ENSURE THE HEALTH, PRODUCTIVITY, INDEPENDENCE, AND WELL-BEING OF ALL PEOPLE THROUGH OPTIMAL REHABILITATION.

93.865 - Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) [HHS - NIH]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 191021325 United States

Single Zip Code

Pediatric Biospecimen Procurement Center (BPC) Supporting the Developmental Gene Expression (dGTEx) Project (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (RFA-HD-21-008)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 08/31/26 to 08/31/27 and the total obligations have increased 258% from $2,950,000 to $10,570,360.