I don’t think my institution has an NIH eRA account. Do they need to submit a DUNS number with NIH eRA before I can access dbGaP?
Yes, your institution will need to register at the eRA Commons. Organizations are usually registered by someone in the business office, since it requires financial information (such as the DUNS number). Once registration is complete, an account will be created for the organization, at which point the organization can designate a Signing Official (SO) for dbGaP (if the institute intends to use a different SO than the one they used for registering with eRA) and you may begin the application process. This process is in place to ensure that investigators using dbGaP are accessing and using data in accordance with their local institutions’ requirements as well as with the requirements set out by the institute providing the data.
