Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2018

FY18 PRCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on Grants.gov.

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, (DHA) J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

Congressionally Directed Topic Areas:  To be considered for funding, applications for the FY18 PRCRP must address at least one of the Topic Areas as directed by Congress.  Research applications in the areas of breast, prostate, lung (excluding mesothelioma), kidney, or ovarian cancer will not be accepted.

  • Adrenal Cancers
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Blood Cancers
  • Brain Cancer
  • Cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults*
  • Colorectal cancer
  • Immunotherapy+
  • Listeria-based regimens for cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma and other skin cancers
  • Mesothelioma
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroblastoma
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Pediatric brain tumors
  • Stomach cancer

*The definition of adolescents and young adults is derived from the National Cancer Institute (https://www.cancer.gov/types/aya) and can be considered to be people between the ages of 15-39 years.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s)

As derived from the National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer terms (http://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms).  Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s).

The FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas are listed below:

To address the cancer health needs of both deployed and non-deployed personnel, their dependents, retirees, and Veterans, the FY18 PRCRP seeks to support studies that are responsive to at least one of Military Relevance Focus Areas listed below:

  • Militarily relevant risk factors associated with cancer (e.g., ionizing radiation, chemicals, infectious agents, environmental carcinogens, and stress)
  • Gaps in cancer prevention, screening, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and/or survivorship that may impact mission readiness and the health and well-being of military members, Veterans, and their beneficiaries and the general public

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/prcrp

 

Career Development Award – Letter of Intent August 28, 2018

Principal Investigator (PI): Independent early-career investigator within 10 years of completing terminal degree (excluding time spent in medical residency or on family medical leave) at the time of the application submission: time spent as a postdoctoral fellow is not excluded.

Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible.

Career Guide: Investigators at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent); must have a proven publication and funding record in cancer research

The PI and the Career Guide do not need to be located at the same organization.

  • Supports independent, early-career investigators to conduct impactful research with the mentorship of an experienced cancer researcher.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $360,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years

 

Idea Award with Special Focus – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

Independent investigator with a faculty-level appointment (or equivalent)

Only one pre-application per PI is allowed.

  • Supports innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods in cancer research relevant to Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the American Public.
  • Emphasis on innovation and military relevance/impact.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
  • Inclusion of preliminary data discouraged.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

Translational Team Science Award – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

At least 2 and up to three PIs must partner in one overarching correlative or translational research study in at least one of the required FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.

The PIs must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent

At least one military/Department of Veterans Affairs investigator is encouraged to be included as an equal partner.

  • Supports hypothesis-driven translational studies associated with an ongoing or completed clinical trial and are focused on research for the next-phase clinical research.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
  • Encourages research in quality of life, longitudinal cancer risk studies, and risk straficiation for primary and metastatic disease.
  • Preliminary data are required.
  • Clinical trials are allowed.
  • Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years

 

Impact Award – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Only one pre-application per Principal Investigators (PI) is allowed.

  • Supports hypothesis –driven high-impact research.
  • Encourages application that support the ideas that specifically focus on critical scientific and clinical cancer issued.
  • Emphasis on impact, transformation, and continuity of research.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
  • Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
  • Preliminary data are required.
  • Clinical trials are allowed.
  • Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov.  A listing of all CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov.  For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://ebrap.org/.  For more information about the PRCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org