Table 1.

CEGIR: Contributions to the Field, and Lessons Learned

Benefit	Comment
Funding	$1.25 million of annual funding is provided by the NIH
Collaborations	Enhanced collaboration among investigators and patient advocacy groups
Leverages other funding mechanisms	Cofunding provided by select institutions and PAGs
Unifies different stakeholders within the field	Brings together pediatric and adult gastroenterologists, allergists, pathologists, basic science investigators, NIH Institute Centers, and PAGs
Interaction with other consortia in network	Sharing of research platforms across sites
Data management and coordination	RDCRN provides this service as part of the participation The DMCC allows CEGIR to leverage a number of services not normally available to stand-alone grants
Support for trainees	Trainees benefit from participating in CEGIR clinical studies, can use CEGIR generated research resources and can participate in RDCRN wide training programs
Provides infrastructure upon which other studies are built	Registries provide resource for other studies
Partnership and Engagement of Expertise of NIH	The U54 grant mechanism is a cooperative agreement and benefits from interaction with NIH experts including Medical Officer, Project Scientist, Program Officers, DSMB, and others
Develops uniform processes and consensus opinions and approaches	Examples include central pathology review, standard operating manual for common procedures such as skin testing

CEGIR, Consortium of Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Disease Researchers; DMCC, Data Monitoring Coordinating Center; DSMB, Data Safety Monitoring Board; NIH, National Institutes of Health; PAG, patient advocacy groups; RDCRN, Rare Disease Clinical Research Network.