The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $6 million (M) to the Department of Defense Multiple Sclerosis Research Program (MSRP) to support pioneering concepts and high-impact research that are relevant to the prevention, etiology, pathogenesis, assessment, and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) to ultimately lessen its personal and societal impact. 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).
FY19 MSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.
Applications submitted to the FY19 MSRP must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:
1. Factors That Promote Central Nervous System Regenerative Potential in Demyelination
Supports innovative mechanistic studies and translational approaches to promote axonal protection, regeneration, or remyelination in MS and/or relevant experimental models.
Note: Studies addressing the following topics will not be considered for funding: developmental myelination, dysmyelination, blood-brain barrier permeability, basic mechanisms of demyelination, neurodegeneration, or inflammatory mechanisms and anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategies that limit tissue injury secondarily.
2. Correlates of Disease Activity and Progression in MS
Supports the identification and/or validation of correlates of disease activity and progression using pre-existing specimens and/or data acquired from well-characterized, adequately controlled, and sufficiently powered patient cohorts.
Note: The study must leverage pre-existing specimens and/or data that are available at the time of application submission; collection of a single set of specimens and/or data collected at one additional time point from participants in the existing cohort is allowed.
3. Biology and Measurement of MS Symptoms
Supports studies on the biology and measurement of MS symptoms, which may include pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, loss of bladder control, impaired mobility, and cognitive, motor, visual, or sexual dysfunction.
Note: Studies of disease-modifying or regenerative therapies that secondarily impact MS symptoms will not be considered for funding under this Focus Area.
https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/msrp
Exploration – Hypothesis Development Award - Preproposal is due May 21, 2019
Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
* Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.
* Supports initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high-gain, and potentially groundbreaking concepts in the MS research field.
* Preliminary and/or published data not required.
* Clinical trials are not allowed.
* Anticipated that budgets will not exceed $150,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
* Period of performance not to exceed 2 years.
Investigator-Initiated Research Award - Preproposal is due May 21, 2019
Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
* Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.
* Supports highly rigorous, high-impact research projects that have the potential to make an important contribution to multiple sclerosis (MS) research and/or patient care.
* Preliminary and/or published data are required.
* Clinical trials not allowed.
* Anticipated that budgets will not exceed $600,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
* Period of performance not to exceed 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 home page at https://eBRAP.org. For more information about the MSRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website https://cdmrp.army.mil.
Point of Contact:
CDMRP Help Desk
301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org
