The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act has provided funding 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 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 Development Command (USAMRDC).
FY20 Congressional appropriation for TSCRP funding, FY20 TSCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.
Applications submitted to the FY20 TSCRP are encouraged to address one or more of the following Focus Areas:
- Eradicating tumors associated with TSC and TSC-associated lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), including gaining a deeper mechanistic understanding of TSC signaling pathways
• Preventing epilepsy, improving treatment, and mitigating comorbidities associated with TSC-related seizures
• Understanding the features of TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TAND) and reducing their impact, including pharmacological and behavioral interventions
• Advancing clinical trial readiness and optimizing clinical care through development of biomarkers and clinical outcome measures, patient selection and sample size determination, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) studies, and enhanced trial design
https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/tscrp
Exploration – Hypothesis Development Award – Letter of Intent due June 18, 2020
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.
· Clinical trials are not allowed.
· The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of funding is $150,000 in direct costs.
· Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
· The maximum period of performance is 2 years
Idea Development Award – Letter of Intent due July 18, 2020
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.
· Supports ideas that have the potential to yield high-impact findings and new avenues of investigation.
· Preliminary data expects.
· Clinical trials not allowed.
· New Investigator Option supports the continued development of promising independent investigators that are early in their faculty appointments and/or the transition or established investigators from other research fields into career in TSC research.
· Applications from New Investigators and Established Investigators will be peer and programmatically reviewed separately.
· The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $450,000 in direct costs.
· Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
· The maximum period of performance is 3 years
Clinical Translational Research Award – Letter of Intent due July 18, 2020
Independent Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
· Supports studies that will move promising, well-founded preclinical and/or clinical research findings closer to clinical application, including, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of TSC.
· Studies advancing clinical trial readiness through development of biomarkers, clinical endpoints, and validation of PK/PD are of particular interest.
· Applications may include a small, pilot clinical trial intended to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research.
· Pilot clinical trials, including behavioral interventions, are encouraged.
· 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.
· Projects that are exploratory and/or strictly animal research will not be considered for funding.
· Clinical Translational Potential is the most important review criterion.
· Preliminary data are required.
· The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $600,000 in direct costs.
· Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
· The 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 USAMRDC 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 TSCRP 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
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