Comparative Medicine Resource Directors Meetings

This application requests funds to support the 11th Comparative Medicine Resource Center Directors' Meeting in 2017, and then meetings in 2018 and 2020. The purpose of these meetings is to provide a forum for Directors of Resource Centers that are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP), Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives. The discussion and action items deriving from these meetings identify opportunities and challenges that Resource Directors face in administering and innovating resources in support of biomedical research. A Scientific Steering Committee will set the agenda for each meeting. Tentatively, meetings will include a keynote address by a prominent Resource Director, presentations by ORIP-funded scientists and NIH staff, moderator led discussions, and a poster session. The initial meeting will be held in Bethesda, MD at the Doubletree Hotel for 2 days in August 2016. Bethesda offers the advantage of proximity to NIH and thus greater participation of NIH staff and scientists in the meeting. The location of subsequent biennial meetings will be determined after the first meeting.