November 29, 2013
The webinar to discuss the NIH CONNECT RFI was held on Monday, December 9, 2013, 4-5:30 p.m. EST

November 26, 2013 (historic)

Consortium for Signaling Networks to Critical Targets ("CONNECT") in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and other Autoimmune Conditions
CONNECT is now formally called AMP RA/Lupus Network.

An RFI (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-AR-14-012.html) was recently published to solicit ideas and suggestions for the development of a team science program and research infrastructure that will provide investigators with the resources needed to elucidate key molecular signaling networks in disease tissues, as well as circulating cells, in human patients. The work will be initially on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with the development of an approach applicable to other autoimmune diseases. The goal is to achieve systems-level understanding of gene expression and signaling in subsets of tissue and blood cells to define shared and disease-specific biological pathways and allow identification of high-value relevant drug targets.

All responses must be submitted to niamsconnect@mail.nih.gov by December 16, 2013. Please include the Notice number NOT-AR-14-012 in the subject line. Response to this RFI is voluntary. Responders are free to address any or all of the categories listed above. The submitted information will be reviewed by the NIH staff. Submitted information will be considered confidential.

Webinar

The webinar to discuss the Consortium for Signaling Networks to Critical Targets ("CONNECT") will be held on Monday, December 9, 2013, 4-5:30 p.m. EST. The goal of the webinar will be to seek advice from the public on how to meet the challenges of the potential project outlined in the RFI. Additional background information for the webinar, which describes the concept in development in greater detail, can be found at: Concept Development for Tissue Analytics in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus . The agenda for the webinar will include an introduction and background, and then discussion of three critical questions:

  1. What are the relative advantages of different techniques for obtaining high-quality tissue specimens in RA and SLE, and what infrastructure is needed to support that effort?
  2. What technologies for analysis of single or small populations of cells could be used to develop a genome-wide molecular ('omics) disease knowledge base of tissue cells?
  3. What automated computational tools are needed to integrate and perform systems-level analysis of datasets?

The last portion of the webinar will address questions from participants as time allows.

Webinar link: webmeeting.nih.gov/rfi1292013/
Conference number: 1-866-846-3997
Participant code: 160729

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before: Test your connection: webmeeting.nih.gov/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to

Su-Yau Mao, Ph.D.
Division of Skin and Rheumatic Diseases
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
One Democracy Plaza, Suite 800
6701 Democracy Blvd.
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872 
Telephone: (301) 594-5032
Fax: 301-480-1284 
Email: maos2@mail.nih.gov

or

Yan Wang, M.D., Ph.D.
Division of Skin and Rheumatic Diseases 
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 
One Democracy Plaza, Suite 800 
6701 Democracy Blvd.
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872
Telephone: (301) 594-5032 
Fax: 301-480-1284 
Email: wangy1@mail.nih.gov

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