Autism Rat Models Consortium, Request for Applications

About this funding opportunity

Search SFARI Home Funding Application Available

July 6, 2021 Informational Zoom Meeting

July 26, 2021 Application Deadline

September 7, 2021 Notification to Present to SFARI

December 15, 2021 Team Presentations

January 2022 Award Notification

February 2022 Scientific inquiries:

sciencerfa@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Administrative inquiries:

sfarigrants@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Simons collections inquiries:

collections@sfari.org

646-654-0066 Application Available

July 6, 2021 Informational Zoom Meeting

July 26, 2021 Application Deadline

September 7, 2021 Notification to Present to SFARI

December 15, 2021 Team Presentations

January 2022 Award Notification

February 2022 Scientific inquiries:

sciencerfa@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Administrative inquiries:

sfarigrants@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Simons collections inquiries:

collections@sfari.org

646-654-0066

Grants awarded through this request for applications (RFA) were intended to recharge and extend a consortium of researchers using rats as an experimental system to advance our understanding of the behavioral and circuit neuroscience mechanisms underlying autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD).

SFARI launched the Autism Rat Models Consortium (ARC) in 2022 with a group of researchers funded through the original Autism Rat Models Consortium RFA. These researchers are using rats generated with SFARI funding that carry mutations in high-confidence genes that in humans significantly increase the likelihood of developing autism and related NDD. These genes include _FMR1_, _ARID1B_, _CHD8_, _CNTNAP2_, _DYRK1A_, _NRXN1_, _SCN2A_ and _GRIN2B_, and all lines are on the Long-Evans outbred genetic background (Charles River Laboratories). As part of the consortium, these same rat models are being evaluated through a comprehensive behavioral phenotyping pipeline established by the Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain (SIDB). Access to these models, as well the resulting data from the SIDB pipeline, are available to any qualified researcher.

ARC members have studied the behavior and neurophysiology underlying social interaction, sensory processing, navigation and learning and memory in these models, finding similarities across genes for some phenotypes as well as an interesting array of differences both across lines and within individuals of the same lines. Throughout this work, ARC members have shared methods, reagents and data within the consortium, leading to new insights and research directions in many cases.

SFARI later launched a new RFA to build upon the successes of the initial phase of ARC as well as to integrate new ideas and new researchers into the existing collaborative framework. As in the original RFA, awardees of this RFA work as a consortium to use these rat models to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying neural circuits relevant to autism and related NDD. Application Available

July 6, 2021 Informational Zoom Meeting

July 26, 2021 Application Deadline

September 7, 2021 Notification to Present to SFARI

December 15, 2021 Team Presentations

January 2022 Award Notification

February 2022 Scientific inquiries:

sciencerfa@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Administrative inquiries:

sfarigrants@simonsfoundation.org

646-654-0066 Simons collections inquiries:

collections@sfari.org

646-654-0066

The submission deadline is Tuesday, September 7, 2021, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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Topic areas: Life Sciences and Health.

Funding amount

This grant provides Varies in funding.

Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; there is no single fixed deadline.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the following applicant types:

• Not specified by the program.

Eligibility

The program did not publish a separate eligibility statement. See the official opportunity page for the full eligibility criteria.

Agency

Autism Rat Models Consortium, Request for Applications is administered by Simons Foundation (Simons), listed via Simons Foundation.