CALL FOR RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSALS 2025 EDITION

The Associazione Mia Neri Foundation Onlus (MNF) (www.mianerifoundation.it) will fund two basic research projects in the field of childhood brain tumors with a 100,000 € grant for each project over a two-year period. Priority will be given to projects submitted by young investigators. The proposals will be reviewed by experts in the field and the winners will be selected by the Scientific Committee of the MNF, based on the reviewers’ evaluations.

Project proposals should be submitted to the MNF at mianerifoundation(at)gmail.com no later than June 30^th 2025 in the following format:

1. Proponent’s name, short cv (showing age) and contact details
2. Project  title and abstract (half page)
3. Background, including preliminary results
4. Hypotheses and specific aims
5. Research plan, including expected results
6. Name of external collaborators, if any          
7. Budget

Sections 3-5 should not exceed 5 pages, excluding figures and references. Font no smaller than Times New Roman 12, margins at least 2 cm each.

The proposals should be accompanied by a letter of acceptance of the Institution where the research project will be carried out.

The winners will be announced no later than October 31^st 2025

Funds will be made available in two installments of 50,000 € each after clearance of the project by the local Ethics Committee, if required.

Inquiries on this call should be addressed to Giovanni Neri, president of the Associazione Mia Neri Foundation at mianerifoundation(at)gmail.com

CALL FOR ORIGINAL RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSALS BY YOUNG INVESTIGATORS

The Associazione Mia Neri Foundation Onlus (MNF) (www.mianerifoundation.it) will fund two basic research projects (one for all applicants and one reserved to Italian applicants) in the field of childhood brain tumors with a 50,000 € grant. Proponents’ age should not exceed 30 years old. The proposal should be accompanied by a statement explaining how the project is driven by an innovative hypothesis different from the main line of research of the hosting lab and what are the expected benefits if such hypothesis is confirmed. The proposals will be reviewed by experts in the field and the winners will be selected by the Scientific Committee of the MNF, based on the reviewers’ evaluations.

Project proposals should be submitted to the MNF at mianerifoundation(at)gmail.com no later than June 30^th 2025 in the following format:

1. Proponent’s name, short cv (showing age) and contact details
2. Project  title and abstract (half page)
3. Background, including preliminary results
4. Hypotheses and specific aims
5. Research plan, including expected results
6. Name of external collaborators, if any          
7. Budget

Sections 3-5 should not exceed 5 pages, excluding figures and references. Font no smaller than Times New Roman 12, margins at least 2 cm each.

The proposals should be accompanied by a letter of acceptance of the Institution where the research project will be carried out.

The winners will be announced no later than October 31^st 2025

Funds will be made available in a single installment of 50,000 € after clearance of the project by the local Ethics Committee, if required.

Inquiries on this call should be addressed to Giovanni Neri, president of the Associazione Mia Neri Foundation at mianerifoundation(at)gmail.com

Assessment of Current and Future Approaches to Address Variants of Uncertain Significance in Hearing and Ocular Genomics Domains

We have designed a questionnaire that aims to explore the practices and experiences of professionals in the hearing loss and ocular genetics domains who are actively incorporating variant-level functional data into workflows. By focusing on these areas, we seek to gather diverse perspectives on variants of uncertain significance (VUS) and better understand how current and future functional data will be integrated into clinical practice.

We aim to address key topics, including:

• The impact of VUS in routine workflows
• The practical applications and challenges of using functional evidence criteria in variant classification
• The level of confidence in applying functional evidence criteria
• Expectations for the type of information included when aggregating variant classification evidence at a single source like ClinVar
• Perspectives for future inclusion of high-throughput approaches, such as multiplexed assays of variant effect (MAVEs), into resources like ClinVar

Our goal is to enhance understanding of the current awareness and application of functional data for interpreting VUS within these two clinical domains. We join international efforts to address the challenges posed by VUS. Functional data have conventionally been generated on a variant-by-variant basis using cell or animal models. However, scalable functional assays like MAVEs offer the potential to accelerate VUS reclassification, providing more certainty about whether variants are pathogenic or benign. This study seeks to capture current and future perspectives on these developments from active members of the hearing loss and ocular genetics communities.

This questionnaire is anticipated to take 15-20 minutes.

The questionnaire can be accessed here: https://redcap.link/VUS_survey_hearing_and_ocular_genomics

We appreciate your participation and willingness to contribute to this important work. Questions can be directed to Dr. Barbara Vona (barbara.vona(at)med.uni-goettingen.de).

Survey on need for registration of Bioinformaticians as Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Bioinformatics)

The EBMG – branch of ErCLGs – offers since 10 years the possibility to register as Clinical Laboratory Geneticists as

• European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (general)
• European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Clinical Genetics)
• European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Molecular Genetics)
• European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Biochemical Genetics)
• European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Tumorgenetics)

To find out if there is a need for opening a possibility for registration as European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Bioinformatics) we start this survey!

In case, you are interested in registration as European registered Clinical Laboratory Geneticists (focus on Bioinformatics) under the conditions mentioned below, send a mail to Thomas.Liehr(at)med.uni-jena.de until 31.03.2025 just stating that you would like to use that way to show your competence.

Details on what we offer are provided on https://www.ebmg.eu/587.0.html. Before you ask any questions to Thomas Liehr make sure you have read and understood that page.

The requirements for application:

• Hold an M.Sc. and/or PhD qualification;
• Work under a contract for at least 8 years in Human Genetics, actively undertake laboratory diagnostics and sign / be responsible for a minimum of 200 reports per year;
• Applicants working for more than 10 years should have signed reports during at least 3 of the last 5 years;
• Applicant need to follow during their work the "code of professional practice for clinical laboratory geneticists in Europe" - this has to be confirmed by your witnesses during step 2 of application;
• Ongoing education: at least 35 hours per year - to be recorded for the last 2 years before application (15h internal and 20h external ones);
• Fee has to be paid – as we have a 2 step submission system inviting for payment after an initial check for eligability, paid fees are not reimbursable.
• At least 1 specialized course in Human Genetic diagnostics with a certificate proofing successful passing of a final test or daily tests and a duration of the course of at least 3 days (link for courses, which can be used);
• At least 1 specialized course in Human Genetic diagnostics with a certificate proofing participation and a duration of the course of at least 3 days (link for courses, which can be used);
• Examination by the EBMG Professional Branch Board for Clinical Laboratory Geneticists - date and place to be announced by January 15th of the year following the actual application round:
  1. written exam to test theoretical knowledge.
  2. individual oral discussion checking experience in diagnostics.
• Not requested or evaluated are scientific records, like publication lists.