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Tim HunterUniversity of VermontCore Manager, VGN Microarray FacilityCore Manager, VCC DNA Analysis FacilityAsst Director, Translational Technologies Unit, CCTS

NNetwork of etwork of IIDeA-funded DeA-funded CCore ore LLaboratories (NICL): aboratories (NICL): Turning NICL into Gold Turning NICL into Gold

IDeA Central Regional MeetingMay 23-25, 2011Hilton Hotel, Omaha, Nebraska

NCRR Strategic Plan: 2009- 2013

Build capacity

Advance research through animal models

Foster research through technologies

Develop informatics approaches to support research

Strengthen the research workforce

Maximize partnerships

Dr. Barbara Alving, NISBRE 2008

The Cores Need a Voice:The Cores Need a Voice:

At the level of the NCRR activities:

Lack of core representation during COBRE/INBRE/RCMI regional meetings

NISBRE conference attended by PI’s, office staff (admin), but as a rule few core staff are given the opportunity to participate due to lack of funding

Information sent to the grant award PIs rarely trickles down to the cores

The cores need a voice: A Network was Born

(NICL)Presence at regional/national meetings/NIH

Help forge and develop partnerships between NICL and other regional and national core organizations

Discussion on partnership with the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facility (ABRF.org)

Tap into existing research groups, and presence in scientific community (FASEB membership)

NICL annual national meeting (representation during NISBRE)

Advocacy: Steering Committee was formed

2008 “impromptu” core breakout session organized by Sol- Church and Hunter. served as catalyst for the building of the new core network

NICL Steering Committee:• Tim Hunter

– Vermont Genetics Network at UVM • Katia Sol-Church

– Nemours, DE• Stephen Bobin

– Dartmouth Medical School, NH• Steve Jennings

– University of Arkansas at Little Rock• James Foster

– University of Idaho• Faye Schilkey

– National Center for Genome Resources, NM

• Kate McInnerney– Montana State University

• ???????

Northeast

South

Central

West

New Steering Committee Member: Central Region

Cynthia AndersonProgram Coordinator, SD Biomedical Research Infrastructure NetworkAssociate Director, Western South Dakota DNA Core Facility Assistant Professor, BiologyBlack Hills State UniversityCynthia.Anderson@bhsu.edu

NICL Mission Statement:

The mission of this network is to support, encourage, and facilitate resource sharing and collaboration among NCRR-funded cores and shared-resource facilities.

NICL Objectives:NICL Objectives: To establish a national network of cores that share expertise and provide

mutual support to build capacity and deliver quality services to NCRR-funded investigators

To establish and maintain a web site (NICLweb.org) to support effective communication between the network members and provide a bridge to the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators

To promote the development of state-of-the-art research methodologies and the flow of technical expertise within the NCRR-funded programs (COBRE, INBRE, RCMI, CTSA)

To share knowledge and expertise on long-range planning and core operations and to provide educational and career growth opportunities to its members

To help forge and develop partnerships between NICL and other regional and national core organizations

NICL: The EvolutionNICL: The Evolution

2008 “impromptu” core breakout session organized by Sol- Church and Hunter. This served as catalyst for the building of the new core network Explore how best to insure Core viability

post-COBRE/INBRE funding Discuss ways to help promote interactions

between NIH-funded cores/resource facilities. Maximize Partnerships

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What We Learned: Common Issues Some NCRR-funded cores are isolated:

No easy access to medical schools (ID) Sometimes difficult to hire specialized staff Some cores want to do outreach but don’t know how Information does not get to them, need a central place

Very few attendees are aware of federal regulations regarding core fees structure – where is the information?

Most had never developed chargebacks or a business plan to sustain critical core activities beyond NCRR funding.

No formal standards on how core charge back should be implemented.

Need for a workshop on core management? Most were not aware of the opportunities for networking in the

“Core Community”

NICL : Providing a Voice for the Cores Provide Forums for Core Networking

Leverage through ABRF and NISBRE

Establish Tools to promote information exchange and Identify Resources NICL Website (www.niclweb.org)

Promote collaboration, education & resource sharing Establish “Fee Waivers” or “special pricing” to encourage Network

interactions lower prices (subsidized). “In-kind” services between core facilities

Road block might be institutional: not set-up for easy sharing (e.g. purchasing dept. have difficulties dealing with PO’s for outside customers).

Memo of Understanding (MOU): a standard document used for resource sharing by all cores in the NCRR Network

NICL: The EvolutionNICL: The Evolution 2009: NICL Satellite Meeting at ABRF

35 NICL members 18 INBRE-funded 10 COBRE-funded 7 RCMI-funded 15 states: AR, DE, GA, ID, ME, MS, MT, ND ,NH, NM, RI, SC, TN,

VT, WV 20 different institutions

9 GUESTS from NIH/NCRR (DC) ABRF 2009 Organizing Comm. (CT) ABRF Executive Board (PA) ABRF Membership Comm. (CA) NIH/NCBI (DC) FASEB (NC) BioServe (MD)

RFI Released by NIH-NCRR: Improving Core Facilities

NIH/NCRR Meetings on Efficient Core Management

The Efficient Management and Utilization of Core Facilities

July 14 – 15, 2009

managing core facilities issues of cost efficiency,

management and access

finding and accessing core

facilities government policies

governing managing and reporting

training core directors

quality improvement

Moving Forward in the Efficient Management and Use of Core Facilities

November 15 – 16, 2010 updates on maximizing the use

and efficiency of existing NIH-funded research core facilities

developing effective training programs for core facility directors

exploring software options for enhancing administrative management of core facilities

creating a national registry of core resources

standardizing compliance with OMB Circular A21

NISBRE Organizing Committee Request

NICL Representation

NICL Evolution: 2009

NISBRE 2010 Core Personnel Travel Awardees:

•Jennifer Holbrook: Nemours/A.I.duPont Hospital for Children

•Bryon Grove: University of North Dakota

•Cheryl J Aine: University of New Mexico

•James Eudy: University of Nebraska Medical Center

•Kate McInnerney: Montana State University

•Kristen-Ashley Muirhead: Dartmouth Medical School.

•Manjula Sunkara: University of Kentucky

•Mikhail Golovko: University of North Dakota (COBRE)

•Vivek Nerurka: University of Hawaii

•Bonnibel Delagado: University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences

NICL Evolution: A First!!

NICL Evolution: NISBRE 201012:45 -3:30PM: NICL Organizational Meeting (James Foster, U Idaho)

•12:30-1:30PM: NICL Workshop Session I: Educational Outreach Through Core Facilities (Janet Murray, Vermont Genetics Network, and Scott Seville, Wyoming)

-How to develop a culture of research in your state through outreach activities in collaboration with institutional cores

•1:30-3:30PM: NICL Workshop Session II: Best Practices in Core Management(Steve Bobin, Dartmouth, Faye Shilkey, NCGR, NM, and Nick Ambulos, U Maryland)

-The business of running a core facility

•3:30-5:00PM: NICL Workshop Session III: Shared Resource Networks(SteveJennings, U Arkansas at Little Rock, and Tim Hunter, Vermont Genetics Network)

-Networks that can promote and foster exchange of core resources.

All workshop sessions are interactive and designed to encourage exchange of challenges and successes on the topic being discussed that can be unique

to operating IDeA-funded core laboratories.

NICL Organizational Meeting: Organized and led by James Foster

Break into working groups to discuss and summarize

‣Group 1: What are core facilities’ needs and what barriers do we face? (Steve Bobin)

‣Group 2: What resources and opportunities currently exist for core operations? (Kate McInnerney)

‣Group 3: What needs to be done to formalize the NICL organization? (Steve Jennings)

‣Group 4: How can cores sustain dialog and information sharing? (Tim Hunter)

Afterwards

‣Register your core at: http://vgn.uvm.edu/corefacilities/

‣NICL board presents summary to NCRR (before end of NISBRE)

‣NICL convenes at ABRF 2011

‣Continue discussion online at niclweb.org

Key Recommendations to NCRR:

1. Fund: Support and expand the NICL organization through NICL leadership with external funding.

2. Authorize: Identify NICL as an NCRR supported entity with the mandate of coordinating core facilities in IDEA states.

3. Authorize: NICL be authorized by NCRR to test and certify the usability and effectiveness of prototype databases, ontologies, and similar resources.

4. Fund: Provide matching funds for cooperative projects between NICL members.

5. Clarify: Mediate disputes with local institutions; clarify budgeting and operations requirements and guidelines.

6. Bargain: Mediate collective bargaining with service and commodity providers, for example to acquire group discounts on licenses and service contracts.

7. Train: Provide administrative training to core leadership and to key institutional personnel (such as SRO personnel).

BuildingNICL Network Tools

Tools to:

- Promote

Communicati

on

- Education of

Core

Directors

-Identify and

inventory

cores (Foster

Sharing

of

Resources)

www.niclweb.org

Resources Developed to Support Network:

Identifying Resources:

-Hardware

-Expertise

2009 Established database for voluntary population of NICL Core’s

Search Provides:All cores in state

Link to core website

Location

Contact info

Services offered

Description of facility

Affiliated associations

Equipment

Date last updated

Or Enter here http://vgn.uvm.edu/corefacilities/

Filter Searches

Search Results for:

Defined Service

Hyperlink direct to:Core facility website

Association Search:

NICL

Multiple field Search:

Vermont

Microarray

NICL

VGN Searchable Core Facilities Database:Statistics

322 Cores

44 States + DC

126 Institutes

11 Associations

67 NICL Cores listed

102 Service Keywords 100 Distinct Service Keywords offered by Core

Facilities

Data captured May 11, 2011

NICL Website:How it is being used

Communication through forums Prevent Local duplication of research

infrastructure Finding distributed unique strengths of resources

within a network (NICL, MWACD, NERLSCD, NERTRN)

Outsourcing Identify local resource to offset vacation in single

staffed core Identify expertise: protocols and troubleshooting

The future for NICL: Provide Tools and Forums to promote networking,

collaborations, education, and identification and sharing of resources

Use for leveraging Instrument service contracts? Reagents and consumables? Other?

What are other ways we can use the NICL network to our advantage?

What opportunities exist where networks can help What are ways we can work with NAIPI to

strengthen core communication and education

The future for NICL:

What division does the IDeA program transfer to Here we need to have a voice!

Changes on the horizon…….

ResourceSharing

Acknowledgements:Acknowledgements:

Katia Sol-Church

Stephen Bobin

Steve Jennings

Faye Shilkey

James Foster

Kate McInnerney

Cynthia Anderson

Gregory Farber

Barbara Alving

Louise Ramm

Fred Taylor

Michael Sayre

Sidney McNairy

Judith Van Houten

Bryan Fleming

Jim Vincent

NICL Steering Committee