COORDINATION CORE The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Center for Precision Genetics (JCPG) brings together a multi-disciplinary team including geneticists, genetics technology experts, quantitative and computational biologists, clinical experts and experienced resource managers. The purpose of the Coordination Core (hereafter, Core) is to ensure productive interactions among all participants and to oversee and facilitate all administrative and scientific functions of the JCPG. This function is carried out under the direction of the JCPG Director and the Program Manager in consultation with a Steering Committee (SC) and an External Advisory Board (EAB). Effective coordination of the JCPG will be achieved by accomplishing four Specific Aims:
AIM 1. Optimize integration and function of JCPG activities through strong administrative and technical oversight. This includes: i) facilitating the process of nominating disease modeling projects, ii) ensuring integrated operation of the Bioinformatics core, the Disease Modeling Unit and the Pre/Co Clinical core, iii) facilitation of all internal and external JCPG communications, iv) coordination of activities of the SC and EAB and, v) coordinating production and submission of all JCPG records to meet internal and external reporting requirements.
AIM 2. Promote center productivity and scientific synergy through effective communication. In this role the Core is responsible for organizing all formal meetings between and among JCPG leadership, advisors and external stakeholders. The purpose of all meetings is to track progress toward aims and milestones and will follow a regular schedule that will be supplemented with ad hoc gatherings as needed.
AIM 3. Implement and refine a decision framework for evaluating and prioritizing variant nominations. A central function of the JCPG is to provide a public-facing process for nomination of human genetic variants that either have no existing mammalian research model or for which existing models are inadequate. The JCPG will establish a process that allows nominees to submit variant candidates through a JCPG web portal located on the JAX website (www.jax.org). These nominations will undergo a review process to evaluate feasibility, scientific and community need, and then prioritize the nomination for entry into the pipeline for model production. The JCPG Program Manager will communicate directly with the nominee throughout the process.
AIM 4. Outreach and External Communication. The impact of the JCPG is directly related to the number of projects that are nominated and complete development. To maximize awareness for all potential entities that might need new mouse models for research and testing we will: i) leverage an existing extensive network of disease foundations and clinical partners to promote contacts with similar entities that might need mouse models and, ii) employ the extensive marketing and outreach infrastructure of JAX Mice, Clinical and Research Services (JMCRS) to bring worldwide awareness to JCPG activities, models, tools and services.
