The FY18 Defense Appropriations Act provides $6 million (M) to the Department of Defense Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Research Program (TSCRP) to support innovative, high-impact TSC 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).

The TSCRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY18 TSCRP 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.

Focus Areas:  The goal of the FY18 TSCRP is to fund exploratory, pioneering and transformative science that promotes discoveries in TSC, from mechanistic insights to clinical application, by supporting new ideas and investigators for the benefit of Service members, their beneficiaries, and the American public.  Within this context, the FY18 TSCRP encourages applications that address the critical needs of the TSC community in one or more of the following FY18 Focus Areas:

·        Gaining a deeper knowledge of TSC signaling pathways and the cellular consequences of TSC deficiency

·        Improving TSC disease models

·        Examining the clinical aspects of TSC, including phenotypic heterogeneity

·        Facilitating therapeutics, biomarkers, and clinical trials research

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

Exploration - Hypothesis Development Award

• Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent), including postdoctoral fellows
• Supports the initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high gain, and potentially groundbreaking concepts in the TSC research field.
• Projects involving human subjects or human biological substances must be exempt under 32 CFR 219.101(b)(4) or eligible for expedited review under 32 CFR 219.110 or 21 CFR 56.110.
• Preliminary data are not required.
• Research projects must be innovative, feasible, and supported by a strong rationale.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• Maximum funding of $100,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 2 year

Idea Development Award

• Established Investigators:  Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent);
• or
• New Investigators:  
• Independent investigator at or below the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent); or
• Established independent investigator in an area other than TSC at or above the level of Assistant Professor seeking to transition to a career in TSC thereby bringing his/her expertise to the field.
• Must not have received more than $300,000 in total direct costs for previous or concurrent TSC research as a PI of one or more Federally funded, non-mentored peer-reviewed grants. (National Institutes of Health K/R00 Awardees are eligible to apply.)
• Must not have received a New Investigator Award previously from any program within the CDMRP.
• Supports new ideas that have the potential to yield high-impact findings and new avenues of investigation.
• Preliminary data are expected.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• New Investigator Option supports the continued development of promising independent investigators and/or the transition of established investigators from other research fields into a career in TSC research.
• Applications from New Investigators and Established Investigators will be peer- and programmatically reviewed separately.
• Maximum funding of $450,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Clinical Translational Research Award

• Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
• Supports forward or reverse clinical/translational research studies.
• Preference will be given to studies that involve human samples, patients, or leverage existing clinical data and/or ongoing clinical studies. 
• Preclinical studies may be appropriate but must include a clinical component.
• Applications may include a small, pilot clinical trial intended to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research.
• Preliminary data are required
• Maximum funding of $600,000 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 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 TSCRP 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