PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The NIA Interventions Testing Program (ITP) is a multi-institutional study investigating interventions with the
potential to extend lifespan and delay disease or dysfunction in mice. Interventions are tested in parallel at
three sites (The Jackson Laboratory, University of Michigan, and University of Texas) using identical
standardized protocols. Such treatments include pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, foods, dietary supplements,
plant extracts, hormones, peptides, amino acids, chelators, redox agents, and other compounds or mixtures of
compounds. We propose to advance the Mouse Phenome Database (MPD) in response to emerging needs of
the aging research community, specifically the ITP, to become a Data Coordinating Center (DCC) that curates
ITP data, makes it available through a public database, and provides tools that enable users to visualize,
analyze, and download the primary and summary data from these studies. Our objectives are to provide a
central repository for data, documentation, and protocols, offering a unique and important venue for ITP
investigators needing to make their data public; to continually refine and develop tools and features to best
locate, present, and analyze those datasets; and to maintain, enhance, and promote this resource to further
enable quantitative, standardized and predictive phenotype studies and, in turn facilitate new scientific advances
in the field of aging. During the previous five years, we have designed a publicly accessible website and data
repository for the ITP. We have also curated and posted data from numerous ITP studies. ITP plans for the
next five years include additional lifespan trials, detailed analyses of agents found to increase lifespan, and
continued growth in data on health outcomes. To help support these goals, our specific aims are to: 1) refine
and maintain the current MPD-ITP website, 2) populate MPD with rigorously curated ITP data, 3) develop and
extend the suite of MPD tools to support flexible analysis and visualization of ITP data, and 4) develop and
maintain a publicly accessible database of ITP biospecimens available for external investigators to conduct
their own studies in a collaborative manner. Completion of the proposed work for the ITP DCC will result in a
powerful FAIR-compliant system (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) for public access to and
analysis of ITP data. This will help maximize the value of these data and provide the traceability and
reproducibility required for extension and translation of the outcomes of ITP testing.