Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network Associate Membership Policy

Version 1.0 – Dated November 2023

SMaHT Website: https://smaht.org/

SMaHT Data Portal: https://data.smaht.org/

I. Introduction

The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network aims to transform our understanding of how somatic mosaicism in human cells influences biology and disease.

Associate Members of the SMaHT Network are qualified individuals eligible to participate in all aspects of the SMaHT Network. They are non-voting members not directly funded by the NIH SMaHT Network program.

II. Associate Member Expectations

Associate Members are expected to participate in the research activities and to abide by all SMaHT policies, including sharing policies. Move specifics about Associate Membership can be found below.

  • The Network welcomes the participation of all additional academic, industry partners, and non-profit organizations.

  • Associate Members are expected to contribute to the research goals of the SMaHT network.

  • Associate membership does not directly or indirectly imply a commitment to funding by the NIH.

  • Collaborating with SMaHT does not imply the NIH’s endorsement of the product or the collaborator.

  • Associate Members will not have exclusive agreements with the SMaHT network for any activity they undertake as part of their involvement.

  • SMaHT expects all Associate Members to abide by the SMaHT code of conduct and policies.

  • Associate Members must not disclose confidential information obtained from other members of the Network and fully participate in SMaHT Network activities.

  • At any time, an Associate Member may ask to leave the SMaHT network, and it is expected that the Associate Member will honor the confidentiality of any information obtained during membership as appropriate through standard research collaboration practices.

III. Application Process

All those who want to apply for SMaHT Associate Member status must have a letter of support from an existing member of the SMaHT network. A list of SMaHT awardees can be found on the SMaHT NIH website. They must also complete and return the SMaHT Associate Membership Information Sheet to the SMaHT Organizational Center (smahtsupport@gowustl.onmicrosoft.com) along with a current CV and a research description at most one page long.

Once received, the application will be reviewed and approved through the following review: the SMaHT Policy Committee, the SMaHT Executive Committee, and NIH Program Officials. The application will then be presented to the SMaHT Steering Committee for a final review. The current members of the SMaHT Executive Committee are Amy Lossie, NIH; Richard Conroy, NIH; Mehrnoosh Ahmadi, NIH; Dena Procaccini, NIH; Ting Wang, Organizational Center, Washington University; Heather Lawson, Organizational Center, Washington University; Richard Gibbs, Genome Characterization Center, Baylor College of Medicine and Kristin Ardlie, Genome Characterization Center, Broad Institute. Members of the Executive Committee may rotate, and when they do, the Organizational Committee will update this list.

Associate Members will be asked to abide by the network-wide policies (such as publications and data-sharing policies) established by SMaHT and to provide a short written statement about their work annually. Associate Member status will be reviewed annually by the SMaHT Executive Committee.

IV. List of Associate Members

A list of current Associate Members will be maintained by the Organizational Center on the SMaHT website.