Framingham Heart Study Service Center

Reimbursement costs for providing FHS data or materials to ancillary studies

The success of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is due in large part to the contributions of ancillary studies over the decades. Providing data, materials or other research and administration services to ancillary studies involves costs which can vary widely and may individually be quite modest, but none of these costs are covered by the FHS contract. The cost to FHS to service ancillary studies needs to be reimbursed by the Principal Investigators (PI) of ancillary studies.

PIs of ancillary studies supported by grants or subcontracts work with FHS grant managers to fund the costs to FHS associated with the study. Alternatively, FHS will invoice investigators based on Framingham Study Service Center posted fees. Requests for datasets for approved manuscripts, pilot work or for grant submissions will be charged a base cost of $1,000.00. Additional costs may be charged depending on the complexity of the request and the amount of data requested. Exceptions may be requested. These will be considered on a case by case basis. Quality control, archiving, tracking and preparation for data sharing is included in the cost of the original data or material distribution fee. For details on ancillary studies and services included in a distribution fee, please visit the FHS website.

The time to complete a service request for data and materials depends upon the size and complexity of the project as well as the completeness of the information provided by the requestor. Average processing times are 4-6 weeks after the FHS application is approved by FHS reviewers. Requests for additional work after a project has been completed may result in additional costs. The FHS makes every effort to accommodate ancillary requests, however, please note that work on FHS contract deliverables takes priority over ancillary requests.

Data & Materials Requests

Service Type Fee
Simple Data Request

(Simple = one exam visit, ≤ 100 variables)

$3,000
Moderate Data Request

(Moderate = multiple exam visits and/or outcome data, ≤ 100 variables)

$5,000
Advanced Data Request

(Advanced = multiple exam visits and/or outcome data, > 100 variables)

$10,000
DNA/aliquot $5.00
Biospecimen Tier 1

  • One shipment of specimens
  • One dataset produced
  • Specimen set includes full exam cycle
  • Standard specimen cryovials
$5.00
Biospecimen Tier 2

  • Multiple shipments of specimens
  • Multiple datasets produced
  • Non-standard specimen vials or plates
  • Custom, or split-cycle specimen set, or other extra handling *
$7.50

*An example of extra handling is reorganization of specimens in an investigator-defined arrangement, such as randomization or pairing of case/control specimens.

For inquires please email the FHS Ancillary Study Coordinator at  fhsanc@bu.edu.

Contact

FHS Ancillary Study Coordinator
Framingham Heart Study
Email | fhsanc@bu.edu

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