ModelMatcher
ModelMatcher, a global matchmaking platform for clinicians and scientists facilitating collaborative research on rare and undiagnosed diseases.
Developed by scientists and clinicians in the US and Canada.
Scientists register their basic information (affiliation, contact, research focus) along with their model organisms and genes of interest.
Who should register?
• Model organism geneticists, cell biologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, structural and developmental biologists.
• Scientists who actively work in the lab focusing a specific disease genes.
• Xenopus researchers who use X. tropicalis and X. laevis.
Note: When registering, add genes using X. tropicalis gene nomenclature, even if you work on X. laevis - this is because ModelMatcher currently uses DIOPT (which uses X. tropicalis genome) to link frog genes to human orthologs.
The list of genes can be classified as:
• public (can be searched by anyone) or
• restricted (to confidentially match with a clinician interested in the same gene)
• primary (scientists have established assays) and
• secondary (interested in specific genes but need time to establish assays)
A high priority tool on many fronts
• Establishing a system for Xenopus researchers to match with clinical researchers was one of the goals identified at the 2019 XRET meeting
• Validation of Animal Models and Tools for Biomedical Research workshop (NIH/ORIP) called for tools facilitating collaboration between model organism researchers and clinicians
Who is behind the ModelMatcher?
ModelMatcher is the resulting collaboration between Dr. Shinya Yamamoto and his team at Baylor College of Medicine (Undiagnosed Diseases Network, UDN) and Drs. Phil Hieter and Paul Pavlidis (University of British Columbia), and Kym Boycott (University of Ottawa) who with others established the Canadian Rare Disease Models and Mechanisms Network, RDMM: http://rare-diseases-catalyst-network.ca.
Coming soon:
• Clinicians can register their information to match with scientists starting in April 2021
• ModelMatcher will connect with Matchmaker Exchange (https://www.matchmakerexchange.org), a large network of federated human genetic/disease databases so clinicians can find scientists with expertise on specific genes studied in diverse model organisms.
Read More about ModelMatcher, MARRVEL and other ‘match making’ tools where ModelMatcher PI Shinya Yamamoto and Xenopus researcher Michela Ori were recently interviewed in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41684-020-00706-7