The FY18 Defense Appropriations provides $3.2 million (M) to the Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program (DMDRP) to support innovative, high-impact Duchenne muscular dystrophy 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 Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation 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 DMDRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY18 DMDRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in June 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.

 

All applications for the FY18 DMDRP funding opportunities are required to address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

• ·         Bone, cardiac, central nervous system (CNS), and/or gastrointestinal tract studies, including identifying mechanisms of pathology and therapeutic interventions
• ·         Translational and clinical studies, novel interventions, and drug and biologic delivery technologies designed to improve care and quality of life in areas such as:
• ○        Cognitive function
• ○        Endocrinology
• ○        Gastrointestinal issues
• ○        Immunology
• ○        Orthopaedics
• ○        Psychosocial issues
• ○        Pulmonology (including sleep-focused studies)
• ○        Skeletal muscle
• ·         Assessment of clinical trial tools and outcome measures, such as:
• ○        Discovery and qualification of pharmacodynamic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers
• ○        Novel clinical outcome assessment
• ○        Patient-centered outcomes (e.g., quality of life, activities of daily living)
• ○        Potential surrogate markers
• ○        Secondary data analysis that helps to address clinical research tool validation and/or to understand natural history
• ·         Extension or expansion of existing preclinical translational data in support of a specific therapeutic development path (such as optimizing delivery to target tissues, including drug exposure, independent replication, and comparative studies)
•  
•  
• http://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/press/2018/18dmdrppreann
•  
• Investigator-Initiated Research Award

• Principal Investigator:  Must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
  
  Optional Nested Resident or Medical Student Trainee: Resident trainee must be enrolled in an accredited residency program.  Medical student trainee must be enrolled in a nationally accredited (or equivalent) medical school.  Trainees must be able to devote a minimum of 40% level of effort.

• ·         Optional Interdisciplinary Collaborator:  Must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent), whose primary training, research, and experience is in a different field than the PI.  The collaborator is required to devote a minimum of 10% level of effort to this project.

·         Supports translational research that will have an impact on preserving and improving the function and quality of life, and extending the lifespan for all individuals with Duchenne.

·         Supports translational research that will accelerate the movement of promising new ideas in Duchenne research into clinical applications.

·         Optional Interdisciplinary Collaborator (OIC): Supports projects that include interdisciplinary collaborations that bring new perspectives from other disciplines and/or bring new investigators into the Duchenne field that through their collaboration the team can undertake conceptually and technically novel approaches that would be less likely to succeed if undertaken by a more narrowly focused group of investigators. Applications that include an OIC who meets criteria identified in the Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity may apply for a higher level of funding.

·         Clinical trials are allowed.

• ·         Preliminary data are required.

·         Maximum funding of $600,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

·         Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

·         Nested traineeship: Additional maximum of $50,000 for residents or $30,000 for medical students in direct costs (plus indirect costs) over a one-year period of performance.

• ·         Optional Interdisciplinary Collaborator:  Additional maximum of $150,000 in direct costs over the 3-year period of performance.
•  

Career Development Award

Principal Investigator:  Must be research (Ph.D.) or physician (M.D.) scientists at an early stage of their research careers with a minimum of 2 years post terminal degree (excluding medical residency or family medical leave), working to become independent investigators who exhibit a strong desire to pursue careers in Duchenne research.
Mentor:  Must hold a position at or above the level of an Associate Professor (or equivalent).

·         Supports early-career investigators to conduct impactful research under the mentorship of an experienced muscular dystrophy researcher.

·         Clinical trials are not allowed.

• Preliminary data are required.

·         Maximum funding of $275,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

• Maximum period of performance is 2 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 DMDRP 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