NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has earmarked $4.1 million in fiscal 2017 funding to support six research sites and one data coordinating center that will continue the work of the agency's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium (IBDGC).
The consortium was established in 2002 to advance knowledge on inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, by identifying genes that predispose individuals to the conditions. Current members include Cedars Sinai Medical Center, the Icahn School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Montreal, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Toronto, and the University of Chicago.
Since that time, the consortium has identified 200 previously unknown IBD susceptibility loci, many of which include multiple genes, according to the NIDDK. Specific causal genes and alleles have yet to be identified for a majority of the loci.
To further the IBDGC's work, the NIDDK is renewing the consortium's funding, setting aside $2.6 million in fiscal 2017 for six genetic research centers that will conduct genetic studies of IBD patients, conducting genotyping, sequencing, and molecular analyses as required. It will also provide roughly $1.5 million to fund a data coordinating center that will provide molecular biologic, biostatistical, data management, and genetic analysis expertise and support to the IBDGC research centers.
Additional details about the funding opportunities can be found here and here.