The BAIR organisation

The BAIR consortium comprises more than 60 contributors with an expertise in insulin resistance, rodent gene targeting, human genetics, emergent genomics, bio-informatics and structural biology.

The Scientific Management Group (SMG) chaired by the Principal Applicant, Prof James Scott, FRS, oversees the direction and progress of the scientific objectives.

The SMG reports to an International Advisory Board chaired by Dr Peter Goodfellow, FRS.

The International Advisory board consists of a group of leading experts in functional genomics. This board assists and monitors the progress of the research.

To ensure efficient prosecution of the research across centres, the scientific programme is organised into Work Packages (WPs) led by Prof James Scott, FRS.

Sub-committees and task forces have been created to work on recurring issues such as data analysis and Publication and Grant strategy.

These structures involve people from the various WPs according to their skills as well as external contributors.

Owing to their expertise BAIR associates are members of more than one WP.

The Biological Atlas of Insulin resistance is an alliance of people with various interests centered on Insulin Resistance.

Each will contribute to the Network by providing:
- Models and samples
- Resources
- Technical & scientific expertise

It is evident that there are strong links between groups and people who do not always work in the same lab or even in the same place but still work “together”.

It is the integration and sharing of resources, skills and knowledge that make the strength of the BAIR consortium.

The BAIR consortium is community of highly qualified scientists who will be working together in a network. All members are equally important since their research work is interdependent.

Meetings of the Scientific Management Group, International Advisory Group and Training Groups are formally documented. All document are available to all members of the consortium.

The BAIR Fellow Workers are the executive component of the project. They are in charge of carrying out the experimental part of the project according to the grant outline. The Fellow Workers are also involved in the design of the experiments from a scientific and technical point of view.

Everything will be done to maximise their contribution and participation to the project since they are those dealing with the project on a day-to-day basis.

The Atlas will be created from the integration of data coming from various groups and several types of experiments.

The International Advisory Board

The Scientific Management Group (see below) reports to an International Advisory Board.

The International Advisory board consists of an invited group of leading experts in functional genomics. The ISAB comprises:

• Professor Graeme Bell (University of Chicago)
• Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (Imperial College London)
• Dr Alvis Brazma (The Sanger Centre)
• Professor Jake Lusis (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Professor Linda Partridge (University College London)
• Dr Chris Rawlings (Institute - Leicester)
• Professor Edward Rubin (University of California, Berkeley)

Professor Graeme Bell and Professor Jake Lusis chaired it jointly in 2004

This International Advisory Board assists in setting scientific strategy, and monitoring progress by annual meetings throughout the duration of the award. Meetings last for one day and take the form of a site visit, with inspection of facilities, presentation and discussion of scientific data, justification of major expenditure, and formulation of proposals for the coming year.

The Scientific Management Group

The Scientific Management Group (SMG) is chaired by the Principal Applicant (Professor James Scott, FRS), and meets at monthly interval. The SMG meeting is attended by all Work Package Leaders and co-opted internal collaborators and is the main management body that directs and assures the scientific productivity of the initiative.

The SMG reviews the scientific progress of applicants’ projects. This includes ensuring adequacy of recruitment and appointment procedures. The SMG oversees the direction and progress of the scientific objectives. The SMG defines the research strategy, milestones and deliverables; orchestrate research activity; and allocate resources.

The Scientific Subcommittee

The Scientific Subcommittee (SCC) is chaired by the coordinator (Dr Roger Tatoud), and meets at monthly interval. The SSC meeting is attended by representatives of all Work Packages and institutions. The BAIR-SSC is instrumental in helping the BAIR SMG to identify, foresee and resolve management and scientific issues. The purpose of the BAIR-SSC is to encourage collaborations between groups, maximise communication between post-docs and maximise the output of the project.

The Work Package Leader

The Work Package Leader is responsible of the work done in a specific area. The WPL is responsible of the activity of their package and should meet with the WP members as appropriate. WPLs report to the SMG.

The BAIR coordinator

The coordinator has been appointed to ensure that the BAIR project runs smoothly and according to plan. The coordinator is in charge of organising and harmonising the scientific interactions, orchestrating the flow of data and managing the budget allocated to this project and reports directly to Prof. Scott, FRS. The coordinator also liaises with the Wellcome Trust, funding body of the BAIR consortium

The coordinator of the BAIR project is the intermediary between its numerous contributors and Professor Scott, FRS. It is therefore very important that the BAIR members communicate on a regular basis with the coordinator to report progresses and difficulties encountered during the course of the work.

Statistics Work Package (aka DANAE)

The role of the Statistics Workpackage (aka Data ANAlysis and intEgration, DANAE) is to coordinate the data analysis and integration of the vast amount of information generated by the BAIR project.

Skilful people disseminated in various Work Packages have agreed to work together and in parallel for the best possible outcome for the project.

The Task Force will define the structures and the procedures needed to perform its role by iteration.

Publication and Grant Strategy Committee

The purpose of the PGS Committee is to provide an agreed authorship and publication framework that:

Encourage broad participation and maximise academic output from the research conducted within the BAIR consortium.

Allow appropriate recognition of individuals, groups or collaborating groups for the work performed in pursuit of the objectives of the BAIR project.

Provides specific guidance so that authorship disputes are minimised without being so prescriptive that’s new relationships cannot be entertained.

Ensure that the BAIR consortium receives appropriate recognition as an enabling umbrella organisation.