Project Summary/Abstract
This submission requests finances to organize the 14th Comparative Medicine Resource Center
Directors' Conference (CMRCD) in 2024 and then conferences in 2026 and 2028. These
conferences offer a forum for Directors of Resource Centers 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 conferences identify opportunities and challenges that Resource Directors face in
administering and innovating resources in support of biomedical research. The Scientific
Steering Committee will set the agenda for each conference. Tentatively, conferences will
include a keynote address by a prominent Resource Director or NIH funded scientist,
presentations by ORIP-funded scientists and NIH staff, moderator-led discussions, and a poster
session. The first conference for this cycle of funding will be held in Rockville, MD, at the Hilton
Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Center for two days on August 6 & 7, 2024.
Rockville offers the advantage of proximity to NIH and thus more significant participation of NIH
staff and scientists in the conference for those who can attend in person. The site and agendas
of successive biennial conferences will be determined after the first conference.