Promoting Partnerships To Improve Veterans’ Health

DoD Vision Research Program Funding Opportunities

27 Apr 2018 8:23 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

The FY18 Defense Appropriation provides $15 million (M) to the Department of Defense Vision Research Program (VRP) to support innovative, high-impact vision 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 VRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY18 VRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in July 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.

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

Focused Translational Team Science Award (FTTSA)

PIs must be independent investigators at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent) with experience in developing and running large-scale initiatives.

  • Co-investigators may be independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Support highly collaborative and translational team initiatives that would fundamentally advance the understanding and treatment of vision trauma. 
  • Must focus on eye injury or visual dysfunction as related to a traumatic event.  Examples of trauma include, but are not limited to:
  • Blast, blunt, thermal or chemical trauma;
  • Trauma caused by directed energy weapons such as laser, microwaves and particle beams;
  • Ionizing radiation
  • Must be a multifaceted, multidisciplinary and highly coherent investigation with 3-5 teams addressing complementary and synergistic questions that center around a specific trauma.  Examples of questions include, but are not limited to:
  • Elucidation of molecular, cellular, and biophysical mechanisms;
  • Identification of biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets;
  • Development and validation of therapeutic agents and/or devices;
  • Development and validation of drug delivery platforms appropriate for said trauma;
  • Development or improvement of clinically relevant models for said trauma;
  • Design of protection to mitigate the impact of said trauma on eye and vision.
  • The proposal should spell out the goals of individual teams as well as describe the ways for the teams to cooperate and effectively share and utilize the newly acquired knowledge in moving the project forward.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed
  • Will be funded by Cooperative Agreement.
  • Emphasis is on synergy, translational potential, and strategy to transition findings into products.
  • Maximum funding of $5,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is year

Investigator Initiated Research Award (IIRA)

  • Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Must focus on eye injury or visual dysfunction as related to a traumatic event.  Examples of trauma include, but are not limited to:
    • Blast, blunt, thermal or chemical trauma;
    • Trauma caused by directed energy weapons such as laser, microwaves and particle beams;
    • Ionizing radiation
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Emphasis is on impact and innovation.
  • Maximum funding of $500K for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Expansion Award (EA)

  • Current Principal Investigator (PI) of VRP awards that were initiated in FY13, FY14, or FY15
  • Each PI is eligible to submit one application per previous award received.
  • Preproposal is required; both preproposal submission and full application submission are by invitation only.
  • Support the continued investigation and further development of highly impactful VRP-funded projects that were initiated in FY13, FY14, or FY15.
  • Applications must include an Outcomes Statement that briefly details the research funded through the initial VRP award and describes the results, accomplishments, and outcomes from that award.  PIs should explain how these results, accomplishments, and outcomes relate to the proposed research and describe how expansion of the original research results would impact vision research and patient care.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • May support preclinical studies that involve cell lines and/or animal models, clinical studies involving human subjects and/or human anatomical substances, or pilot clinical trials that collect preliminary data to support the rationale and design of subsequent clinical trials.
  • Emphasis is on translational potential and impact.
  • Maximum funding of $500K 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 VRP 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



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