Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination (BTOD) Centers (RM1)

The NIGMS Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination (BTOD) Program has two goals:

  • Optimization of state-of-the-art, NIGMS mission-relevant, late-stage technologies 
  • Broad dissemination of these technologies for use in biomedical research by both experts and non-experts.
 

NIGMS encourages investigators to propose BTOD Centers that focus on technology research areas within the NIGMS mission. Technologies of interest include but are not limited to analytical biochemistry, chemical biology, computational methods, high throughput biochemistry methods, molecular modeling, modeling of biological systems, data science, spectroscopy, microscopy, imaging, structural biology, molecular biology, and cell manipulation.

The BTOD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), an update of the Biomedical Technology Development and Dissemination (BTDD) program, is PAR-23-110. Potential applicants are strongly advised to contact NIGMS staff at least ten weeks prior to the application due date to discuss the suitability of a proposed project for the program. Projects requiring significant technology development fall outside this program's scope, but may be appropriate for NIGMS Technology Development Program (R21 or R01). Prospective applicants with mature technologies ready to serve as a user resource may consider applying for the NIGMS National and Regional Resources (R24) or the NIGMS Mature Synchrotron Resources (P30)​​.

Christina Liu, Ph.D. PE and Alvin Yeh, Ph.D.
Program Directors​
Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200


Center on Macromolecular Dynamics by NMR Spectroscopy (COMD/NMR)
New York Structural Biology Center

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM145397
Principal Investigator: Arthur G. Palmer, Ph.D.
The COMD/NMR Center develops advanced methods in NMR spectroscopy for studying conformation and dynamics of protein and nucleic acid during biological processes and makes these sophisticated methods accessible to a wider research community to facilitate applications to biomedical questions. This Center was previously supported by the BTRR Program (P41GM118302).

Center on Probes for Molecular Mechanotechnology (CPMM)
Emory University

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM145394
Principal Investigator: Khalid Salaita, Ph.D.
CPMM optimizes and disseminates advanced technologies to measure forces at the surface of cells. The CPMM team will develop probes for light microscopy, flow cytometry, and plate readers. These probes will enable studies of mechanobiology and mechanotransduction pathways in cells. ​

The GCE4All Center: Unleashing the Potential of Genetic Code Expansion for Biomedical Research
Oregon State University

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM144227
Principal Investigator: Ryan A. Mehl, Ph.D.
Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) technology – the engineering of cellular translation to express proteins containing non-canonical amino acids – provides unprecedented ways to probe and manipulate macromolecular structure and function, analyze protein malfunctions in disease, engineer bioanalytical tools, and create precision biotherapeutics. The GCE4All Center's mission is to optimize and extend existing GCE technologies to enable facile use by non-specialists and broadly disseminate them via widespread education, effective training, and sustainable access so that powerful GCE approaches become standard widely-used biomedical research tools.

National Resource for Advanced NMR Technology
Florida State University and University of Florida

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM148766​
Principal Investigators: Robert W. Schurko, Ph.D.; William W. Brey, Ph.D.; Joanna R. Long, Ph.D.
The National Resource for Advanced NMR Technology leverages recent breakthroughs in materials science and instrumentation to develop technologies that advance the sensitivity and spectral resolution of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. These advances will lead to new tools that are needed to provide novel insights into biological processes and structures that are at the forefront of biomedical research, including enzyme mechanisms, metabolic flux, structure-function relationships, mechanisms of intrinsically disordered proteins, and cell wall structures. This Resource aims to disseminate their technologies and advances to a broad user community through educational lectures and training activities, peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, annual workshops, and a dedicated website with Resource materials and postings. This Resource was previously supported by the BTRR Program (P41GM122698).

Native Mass Spectrometry Guided Structural Biology Center (nMS->SB)
Ohio State University

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM149374​
Principal Investigators: Vicki Wysocki, Ph.D.
The nMS-> SB Center empowers specialist and non-specialist biomedical researchers to use native MS workflows and instrumentation that permit rapid, accurate, and highly sensitive structural biology characterization of mass, subunit stoichiometry, connectivity and topology, conformational diversity/stability/flexibility, heterogeneity, hierarchy in assembly, and relative subunit binding strengths of macromolecular complexes. Interdigitation of Center components with other structural biology tools will advance structural biology initiatives worldwide with integrated suites of nMS-based tools translated to users. This Center was previously supported by the BTRR Program (P41GM128577).​

UTSW-UNC Center for Cell Signaling Analysis
UT Southwestern Medical Center and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

BTDD Grant Number: RM1-GM145399
Principal Investigators: Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D.; Kevin M. Dean, Ph.D.; K​laus M. Hahn, Ph.D.
The Center for Cell Signaling Analysis optimizes and disseminates advanced technologies for visualization and quantitative analysis of molecular events in living cells and tissues. User-friendly and integrated technologies of the Center combine biosensors, optogenetics and chemogenetics; modular, high-speed, and high resolution light-sheet microscopes; and image analysis and computational modeling to derive signaling circuits, including the inference of causality and kinetics of connections. Technologies are disseminated through existing infrastructure including imaging facilities throughout the U.S., the FIJI software ecosystem, and commercial and non-profit companies.