Center Structure & Steering Committees
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Each Center has a structure that consists of an Executive Committee,
an Administrative Core and Director, experimental and analytical Test Cores, an Animal Health and Welfare Core,
and a Research & Development program. The MMPC program has a Coordinating and Bioinformatics Unit which houses
the MMPC Pilot and Feasibility grant program, the MMPC website, and MMPC Database.
This CBU is shared with the NIH-sponsored Animal Models of Diabetes Complications Consortium (AMDCC). Details for the
structure and personnel at each MMPC can be obtained from the individual web sites. The six Centers share a
National Steering Committee consisting of Center Directors, NIH personnel, and
external advisors.
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Application for Services
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After identifying the appropriate Center(s) from the individual web pages or
test catalog the applicant should first contact the Center Director or Core
Director to discuss the mouse strain, determine the best set of tests to be conducted, and obtain an estimate of costs. The
applicant then obtains a password protected account and completes an
online request for services which is targeted to the appropriate Center. The request is
reviewed by the Center Executive Committee. Acceptance is based on Center workload, relevance of the available and/or requested
tests to the mouse model, and the perceived value of the animal to diabetes, obesity, and metabolic disease research.
The applicant will be contacted with the decision. Following consultation with the Center and/or Core Director(s), a written
estimate for all tests agreed upon, including the number of mice required for each test and a timeline for receipt and
testing of the mice at the MMPC, will be sent to the applicant for his/her approval.
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Data
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Tests will be conducted using the experimental protocols found on the individual MMPC web sites or in the catalog.
Detailed descriptions will be provided upon request. Upon completion of the requested tests, data in an appropriate
form will be stored in the MMPC database and posted on MMPC's password protected
web site
for viewing by the submitting investigator only. The Center personnel will be available to discuss experimental details, etc.
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Data Ownership
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All data generated from a submitted strain belongs to the submitting investigator and his/her institution.
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Center personnel have no rights to use this data for personal or institutional research purposes unless a formal,
documented arrangement of collaboration exists between Center personnel and the investigator.
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We believe that data sharing is essential for expedited translation of research results into knowledge,
products, and procedures to improve human health. The NIH endorses the sharing of final research data to serve these and
other important scientific goals. The NIH expects and supports the timely release and sharing of final research data from
NIH-supported studies for use by other researchers… [The] definition of "the timely release and sharing" [is] to be no later than
the acceptance for publication of the main findings from the final data set. NIH continues to expect that the initial
investigators may benefit from first and continuing use but not from prolonged exclusive use.
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All data collected at the Centers from background strains and standard disease models (i.e., those commercially available)
will be stored in the publicly available MMPC database. It is anticipated that the complete set of data generated by the
MMPCs on all newly generated strains, taken together in a database, will be valuable for understanding diabetes, obesity
and other metabolic diseases.
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Therefore, the NIDDK requests that investigators allow the data generated by an MMPC
to be placed in a public MMPC database after the first of the following two conditions has been met:
- The data have been published and are therefore in the public domain.
- Two years have passed since the investigator received the data from the Center.
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Because it is sometimes not possible to publish or even interpret data within a two-year timeframe, investigators may
request that specific data be withheld from the public database for an additional period of time.
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Fees
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Price information for each test is available on the individual Center web pages or by request from each MMPC. Applicants will
receive a written estimate that must be acknowledged by the submitting investigator before animals can be shipped for
testing. Fees are set as a fraction of the total costs incurred by the MMPC for that test, and are calculated based on the
obtainment of revenue neutrality.
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Animal Quarantine Procedures
It is in the interest of the receiving MMPC institution to have a relatively short quarantine
period so mice can be studied as soon after receipt as possible to avoid
aging effects and to avoid extra per diem costs while mice are held in quarantine.
The recommendations outlined below were developed in 2010 by an adhoc committee of experts
enlisted by the MMPC consortium to devise a standardized approach to accelerate quarantine
periods (3-4 weeks) while minimizing the risks of pathogens being introduced into the receiving MMPC.
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Acknowledgements
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One index of success of the NIDDK MMPC program is the contribution of data produced by the MMPC to publications and
oral communications. Please acknowledge the MMPC when presenting data obtained using Center Services.
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Cincinnati MMPC is supported in part by U24 DK59630.
University of Washington, Seattle MMPC is supported in part by U24 DK76126.
Vanderbilt MMPC is supported in part by U24 DK59637.
Yale MMPC, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center MMPC, and Case Western Reserve University MMPC are supported in part by U24 DK76169.
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