Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Massachusetts received a $478,453 Project Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) on September 1, 2026, with a completion date of May 31, 2031. The grant supports large-scale analysis of early lethal phenotypes through the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), addressing a critical gap in characterization pipelines for loss-of-function mutations. The project will characterize an additional 150 early lethal phenotypes occurring between fertilization and organogenesis, building upon the investigator group's prior analysis of more than 250 new alleles using established, routine techniques that maximize data generation while minimizing training and troubleshooting overhead.

The deliverables include comprehensive phenotypic data characterizing newly generated knockout alleles with gastrulation and preimplantation phenotypes, which will be made available to the scientific community to support functional annotation of the mammalian genome. This work complements existing KOMP/IMPC (Knockout Mouse Project/International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium) efforts and provides critical insights into genetic pathways and early developmental mechanisms relevant to understanding adult disease phenotypes. The research is performed at the University of Massachusetts facility in Hadley, Massachusetts.