Nomination Information

Nominations are welcome from patients, families, foundations, family organizations, researchers, and clinicians by contacting our center at [email protected] or using the links below.

FAQs

What Sets Us Apart

Building on JAX’s extensive rare disease expertise and robust collaborative partnerships, we are ready to be your trusted partner in advancing rare disease research. Our Rare Request program enables partners to work closely with the best thinkers in the rare disease space. Drawing on decades of expertise in mouse model work, we bring efficiency and innovation to the forefront.

Who We Collaborate With

We are proud to partner with experts from across the globe to achieve our mission, and we want to work with you. The Center collaborates with:

• Biomedical and clinical research institutions as well as medical clinics to support rare disease diagnostics and understanding
• Biotechnical and pharmaceutical industries  to strategize and tailor pre-clinical therapeutic platforms with the aim of assessing efficacy of lead candidates
• Foundations and patient groups seeking treatments and research resources for rare disease

More Than a Mouse

Beyond developing a mouse model, our Rare Request program will work together to explore novel therapeutic strategies, review cutting-edge research, and expand your team with respected partners.

The JCPG team will work with you to answer:

• What genetic variant(s) are you interested in modeling?
• Does a mouse model already exist? What would be different about this new mouse model?
• What are you hoping to accomplish with building a new model? Are there specific phenotypes (clinical features) you would like to capture in the mouse model?
• What type of therapies or treatments are being developed? Who is developing the therapeutics?
• Who will use the model after it is built?

What criteria does the committee consider

• Existing knowledge of the gene, related medical condition(s), and other models
• Potential for the new model to advance existing research and therapeutic development
• Scientific feasibility to make the model and necessary model considerations, like humanization

What is the investment associated with these efforts

Some aspects of our process qualify for grant support. Additional characterization, efficacy, or tolerability studies may require external funding. However, we work with each foundation to identify additional sources of funding for each stage.

Nomination process

• Interested parties contact our center to discuss the variant you propose to model. Please contact us via one of the following methods: Contact by Email Contact by Form
• Nominators will be contacted via email to confirm submission. In addition, our staff will solicit and gather additional information about the mutation, patient phenotypes, plans for evaluating the new model as well as potential therapeutics that may be amenable to the type of mutation. Conference calls to further discuss the project needs and gather information are typically scheduled within a week or two from initial contact.
• Variant summary is compiled and evaluated by the review committee
• If selected, experimental plan is devised in conjunction with the nominator(s) to generate the mouse model and conduct the initial evaluation of clinically relevant phenotypes. Once the plan is approved the project is initiated.

Our center will also consider project nominations from the community where a mouse model may already exist but may require additional evaluation to establish the mouse strain as a model for human disease or to gather preclinical data to advance a therapeutic toward IND approval.

Our Partners and Projects

Our Rare Request Program has an extensive network of family and foundation partners as well as scientific and academic collaborators. Read testimonials and review exciting recent work coming out of our Center, or download a list of our current projects.