The FY18 Defense Appropriation provides $30 million (M) to the Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) to support innovative, high-impact spinal cord injury research. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, 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) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

The SCIRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY18 SCIRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in May 2018.  Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released.  This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.

For FY18, SCIRP encourages applications that address the critical needs of SCI research and patient care in one or more of the following FY18 Focus Areas:

• Neuroprotection
• Biomarkers
• Bladder and bowel dysfunction and neuropathic pain
• Psychosocial issues relevant to SCI in  individuals with SCI and their caregivers
• Rehabilitation and regeneration

http://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/press/2018/18scirppreann

Clinical Trial Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Fund Phase 0, I, or II clinical trials with the potential to have a major impact on treatment or management of spinal cord injury (SCI) and its consequences.
• Preclinical data required for all clinical trial applications.
• Maximum funding of $3M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 4 years

Investigator-Initiated Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Fund SCI-related research that has the potential to make an important contribution to SCI research and/or patient care.
• Preliminary data required.
• Clinical trials not allowed.
• Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

Qualitative Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Fund qualitative research on military Service members and Veterans in the years following SCI.
• Qualitative research is defined as a form of social inquiry that focuses on understanding the way that people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live (i.e., seek to understand the human experience).
• Preliminary data encouraged, but not required.
• Clinical trials not allowed.
• Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Translational Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Fund studies that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications.
• Preliminary data required
• The SCIRP TRA may include a pilot clinical trial as part of the proposed research where limited clinical testing of a novel intervention or device is necessary to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research.
• Maximum funding of $1.25M for 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 that will be 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 and other USAMRMC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

Submission deadlines are not available until the Program Announcements are released.  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 SCIRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil

The Department of Defense (DOD) – Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) recently released funding opportunities and program pre-announcements for FY2018.

A current CDMRP funding opportunity is the Military Performance Optimization Research Award, with a pre-application deadline of 4/11/18.  This program will support research addressing physical performance optimization, cognitive performance optimization, injury prevention and reduction, and deployment health protection.

Although funds have not been appropriated for the below CDMRP programs, anticipated funding opportunities for FY2018 include:

• DOD Prostate Cancer Research Program
• DOD Autism Research Program
• DOD Neurofibromatosis Research Program
• DOD Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program
• DOD Gulf War Illness Research Program
• DOD Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Research Program
• DOD Bone Marrow Failure Research Program
• DOD Lung Cancer Research Program
• DOD Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Research Program
• DOD Ovarian Cancer Research Program
• DOD Parkinson’s Research Program
• DOD Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (topic areas yet to be finalized)
• DOD Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program
• DOD Tick-Borne Disease Research Program

CDMRP provides the information about anticipated funding opportunities in pre-announcements so that investigators have adequate time to plan and develop proposals for submission.  Further information on the CDMRP, current opportunities and anticipated opportunities can be found on their webpage.

Researchers can now breathe a sigh of relief; even though the 2018 Federal spending plan took six additional months to pass, there are some encouraging budget figures for Research & Development (R&D).  Over the past 12 months, the US R&D community has expressed considerable fears about the future of funding.

The new Federal budget for “federal R&D spending will reach its highest point ever in inflation-adjusted dollars,” according to the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) article “AAAS Celebrates Federal Spending Increases for Scientific Research” (3/23/18).

Science published an article on Friday, March 23rd as well, “Trump, Congress approves largest U.S. spending increase in a decade,” highlighting some of the key science agencies benefiting from the spending plan:

• NIH receives an 8.3% increase
• NSF receives a 3.9% increase
• Department of Energy (DOE) receives almost a 15% increase
• NASA receives a 7.9% increase

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture also received funding increases, although not in the amazing proportions as those mentioned above.  Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not receive any budgetary increase; they received a partial win,  narrowly escaping the proposed deep cuts that lawmakers ultimately rejected.

The Science article estimated that “R&D spending in 2018 will reach $176.8 billion.”

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is looking for researchers interested in presenting at the Beyond B2B: Connecting for Growth event, April 4th, 2018 in Independence Ohio.

What is Beyond B2B?

AIAA’s Beyond B2B event is more than just the average business to business matchmaking/networking program. The goal is to connect entrepreneurs and small businesses from all industries, including those from outside of the aerospace industry, with medium and large aerospace and defense companies. This fast-paced, one-day event encourages collaboration among startups/small businesses and big business.

Specific technology sector areas of interest for presentations include:

• Advanced/Additive Manufacturing
• Materials and Materials Sciences
• Instrumentation and Measurement
• Polymers and Polymer Sciences
• Other technologies that have potential applicability to aerospace

Additional information can be found on the Beyond B2B: Connecting for Growth webpage.

If interested, please contact Ms. Tobey A. Jackson for further details (office: 703-264-7570; cell: 703-930-8347; email: tobeyj@aiaa.org).