The FY18 Defense Appropriation provides $12 million (M) to the Department of Defense Reconstructive Transplant Research Program (RTRP) to support research projects that specifically address needs in the field of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA).  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).

FY18 RTRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website. 

Focus Areas:  The FY18 RTRP encourages research projects that specifically address needs in the field of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) in the following focus areas:

• ·        Reduce the risks of VCA-associated immunotherapy
• ·        Revolutionize ex vivo VCA tissue preservation strategies to extend the timeline between procurement and transplantation
• ·        Identify near- and long-term functional, quality-of-life, and psychosocial outcomes in VCA

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/rtrp

Concept Award (CA) – Letter of Intent due 10/3/18

Investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (or equivalent)

• Pre-application (Letter of Intent) is required.
• Supports the exploration of a highly innovative new concept or untested theory that addresses an important problem relevant to reconstructive transplant. 
• Preliminary data are NOT allowed.
• Reviewers at both tiers of review will be blinded to the identity of the Principal Investigator (PI), collaborators, and their organizations.
• Applications must address at least one of the FY18 RTRP Focus Areas.

·      Maximum funding of $200,000 for total costs (direct plus indirect costs)

• ·      Maximum period of performance is 18 months

Investigator-Initiated Research Award (IIRA) – Preproposal due 8/15/18

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports studies with potential to make an important contribution to the reconstructive transplant research field, patient care, and/or quality of life.
• Preliminary or published data required.
• Multiple PI Option supports synergistic partnerships among two to four investigators collaborating on a single application; multi-institutional collaborations are encouraged.
• Applications must address at least one of the FY18 RTRP Focus Areas.

Individual PIs:

·      Maximum funding of $1 million (M) for total costs

·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Multiple PI Option:

·      Maximum funding of $1.5M for total costs

• ·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Qualitative Research Award (QRA) – Preproposal due 8/15/18

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Preproposal is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports qualitative research studies that will help researchers and clinicians to better understand the experiences of individuals who are considering, or have already received, reconstructive transplant surgery.
• Demonstrated qualitative research experience within the research team is required.
• Applications must address the following FY18 RTRP Focus Area:

○       Identify near- and long-term functional, quality-of-life, and psychosocial outcomes in VCA

Multiple PI Option supports synergistic partnerships among two to four investigators collaborating on a single application; multi-institutional collaborations are encouraged.

·      Maximum funding of $1M for total costs

·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Multiple PI Option:

·      Maximum funding of $1.5M for total 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 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. 

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 RTRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org