Limited Competition: Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (U42 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PAR 19 175

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 175

The funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (U42 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (PAR-19-175) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) cooperative agreement designed to maintain and further develop the Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (MMRRC) program. The core purpose of the FOA is to keep a national, high-quality infrastructure in place that supports biomedical research by making well-documented, rigorously quality-controlled mutant mouse models broadly available to qualified investigators. In practical terms, the program is meant to function as a reliable pipeline for bringing valuable genetically engineered mouse strains into a centralized resource, validating and preserving them, and then distributing them efficiently along with associated biomaterials so researchers can reproduce findings and build on prior work.

A central feature of this program is the expectation that awardees operate as part of a coordinated consortium rather than as isolated repositories. The MMRRC consortium is described as a regional network of four MMRRC sites plus an Informatics, Coordination and Service Center (ICSC). Together, these components are meant to cover the end-to-end operational needs of the research community for transgenic, knockout, and other genetically engineered mutant mice. The regional centers handle hands-on resource activities such as identifying and acquiring new strains, evaluating and characterizing them, cryopreserving them for long-term security, and distributing live mice or germplasm and related materials. The ICSC provides the informatics backbone and coordination layer that helps the network function like a single national resource, including consistent documentation, standardized data practices, and user-facing services that make it easier for scientists to discover, request, and use models.

The FOA puts a strong emphasis on quality, scientific rigor, and transparency, reflecting a broader NIH concern with reproducibility in animal-based research. MMRRC strains are expected to be maintained to very high standards, with thorough review and documentation of submitted strains and added quality control measures beyond basic husbandry. This focus signals that the program is not only about storage and distribution, but also about ensuring that mouse lines are authentically what they are claimed to be, appropriately characterized, and accompanied by the information needed for other laboratories to use them responsibly and interpret results correctly. The overall goal is to reduce variability, prevent the spread of poorly defined models, and increase confidence that experiments conducted with these mice can be replicated.

In addition to the major service and resource responsibilities, the FOA requires the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) at each MMRRC to run a small research pilot project described as "high risk, high return." This pilot is not the main purpose of the award, but it is a required element intended to complement the consortium's mission and address emerging needs. The idea is that each center should be able to test innovative approaches, methods, or improvements that could meaningfully enhance how the MMRRC operates or how the research community benefits from it, even if those approaches are not yet fully proven.

Administratively, this opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses a cooperative agreement mechanism (U42), which typically indicates substantial involvement by NIH program staff in guiding or coordinating aspects of the project compared with a standard research grant. The activity category is Health, and the listed CFDA number is 93.351. The FOA explicitly states "Clinical Trial Not Allowed," which means applications should not propose clinical trials under this award and should remain within the scope of resource development, model stewardship, and related non-clinical research support activities.

Eligibility is limited and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, consistent with the "limited competition" framing. The announcement is also explicit about geographic restrictions: non-U.S. (foreign) institutions are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement are not allowed. The original closing date listed for the opportunity is 2019-09-01, and the FOA was created on 2019-01-30. The source data does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards, but it does clearly define the program structure and the operational and quality expectations for centers that would participate in sustaining and advancing the national MMRRC consortium.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Limited Competition: Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (U42 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.351.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-01-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-09-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for PAR 19 175

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