?AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES GROUP Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement, the NIAID Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation (DAIT) intends to consolidate its funding for multiple, independent Statistical and Clinical Coordinating Centers (SACCCs) into a single multi-component cooperative agreement, presumably to reduce costs and increase efficiency and standardization across research consortia. This new program will fund a single SACCC or Center to support DAIT research in the areas of asthma and allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, and transplantation, and in the area of autoimmune diseases research, this Center will provide support to 3 consortia?the Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence (ACE), Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy Consortium (HSCTC), and the autoimmune diseases component of the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN). Within the Center, support for these 3 consortia will be organized under 1 group?the Autoimmune Diseases Group (ADG). The objective of the ADG is to provide excellent and efficient study coordination support services across the 3 autoimmune diseases research consortia. To accomplish this objective, RhoFED aims to (1) provide staff experienced in autoimmune disease research conducted by DAIT-supported consortia and to organize these staff in an administrative structure that manages resources efficiently, is responsive to the needs of the research consortia and DAIT, and facilitates communication and collaboration; (2) provide experienced scientists and statisticians who, in collaboration with clinical investigators and senior DAIT officials, design and analyze studies across the full scope of research in autoimmune diseases; (3) facilitate the development, review, and revision of initial and successive drafts of protocols and protocol-related documents through dedicated ADG protocol teams; and (4) provide study initiation and study management functions that are required for the efficient and ethical conduct of studies. Because RhoFED is currently the SACCC for ACE, HSCT, and the Statistical Data Coordinating Center (SDCC) for ITN, RhoFED is well suited to provide consolidated SACCC support across the 3 consortia. And, by providing staff with experience in supporting autoimmune disease research and an administrative infrastructure designed to enhance collaboration between parties and support agile and effective resource management, we believe that support of these 3 consortia through the newly formed Center and the ADG will directly contribute to the achievement of the DAIT objective to better understand, treat, and prevent autoimmune diseases.
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