Systematic Characterization of Genomic Variation to Assess Effects of Individual Variants on Genome Function and Phenotype (UM1 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
NIH funds centers to systematically test how genomic variants affect genome function and phenotypes, develop reproducible data pipelines, and collaborate in a consortium; clinical trials are not allowed.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: November 14, 2026 (Earliest submission) | December 14, 2026 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to $2 million in direct costs per year for up to 5 years; $15 million in annual program funding
Summary: Supports centers systematically testing individual genomic variants to characterize their effects on genome function and phenotype.
Key Information: Centers must join the IGVF Consortium and allocate 20% of annual direct costs to collaborative work.
Description
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of NIH, supports Individual Variant Characterization Centers through UM1 cooperative agreements for the second phase of the Impact of Genomic Variation on Function (IGVF) Consortium. Centers will systematically perturb genomic variants or elements using high-throughput methods, measure molecular, cellular, or organismal effects, and develop reproducible data-processing pipelines.
The program seeks community resources that enable discovery and hypothesis generation, rather than hypothesis-driven mechanistic studies. Centers will expand the IGVF catalog of measured and predicted variant impacts and coordinate assays, variants, cell types, and analyses with other consortium components. Work can address noncoding DNA, RNA, and protein-coding variation in biological systems relevant to human health and disease. Optional activities include limited single-cell reference mapping and improvements to generalizable functional-characterization assays.
