The FY18 Defense Appropriations Act provides $80 million (M) to the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) to support innovative, high-impact cancer research.  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).

FY18 PRCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on Grants.gov in late April/early 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, and funding of research projects received in response to these Program Announcements is contingent on the availability of Federal funds appropriated for the PRCRP. 

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.

The FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas are:

Adrenal Cancers Bladder cancer	Immunotherapy† Listeria-based regimens for cancer	Myeloma Neuroblastoma
Blood Cancers Brain cancer	Liver cancer Lymphoma	Pancreatic cancer
Cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults*	Melanoma and other skin cancers	Pediatric brain tumors
Colorectal cancer	Mesothelioma	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/pubs/press/2018/18prcrppreann

Career Development Award

Principal Investigator (PI): Independent early-career investigator within 10 years after completion of his/her terminal degree (excluding time spent in residency or on family medical leave) by the time of the application submission deadline

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

• Letter of Intent is required.  An invitation to submit a full application is not required.
• 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 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

 

Idea Award with Special Focus

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

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods in cancer research relevant to Service members, their families, and other military beneficiaries.
• 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.
• Preliminary data are not required.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.

·      Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $400,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

Translational Team Science Award

At least two and up to three PIs must partner in one overarching correlative or translational research study

At least one of the PIs is encouraged to be a military or Department of Veterans Affairs investigator

• Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Emphasizes multi-PI, multidisciplinary collaborations.
• Supports translational studies associated with an ongoing or completed clinical trial and/or translational study that can lead to a future clinical trial or clinical application in cancer research relevant to Service members, their families, and other military beneficiaries.
• Not intended to support high throughput screenings, sequencing, etc.
• 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 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 4 years

 

Impact Award

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) are eligible to submit an application.

• A Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports hypothesis-driven, high impact research.
• Encourages applications that support the full spectrum of research projects or ideas that specifically focus on critical scientific and clinical cancer issues, which, if successfully addressed, have the potential to make a major impact on one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
• 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.
• Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years
• Clinical Trials are allowed

 

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 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.  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 PRCRP 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