DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Idea Award with Special Focus | W81XWH 18 PRCRP IASF

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 18 PRCRP IASF

The DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) FY18 Idea Award with Special Focus is a competitive funding opportunity from the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA) designed to back bold, early-stage cancer research ideas that are high-risk but potentially high-reward. The core purpose is to push genuinely new concepts, theories, methods, or research directions that have not yet been thoroughly tested, with clear relevance to active duty Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and ultimately the broader American public. A central expectation is that funded projects will help advance cancer-related knowledge, patient care, and future treatment options in ways that matter to the Military Health System (MHS), including issues that can influence overall force health and mission readiness.

What sets this mechanism apart is the "Special Focus" requirement. Applicants are expected to center their proposed work on exposures, conditions, or circumstances that are unique to the military environment, more common in military beneficiary populations, or otherwise tied to military service and readiness. This can include factors that may contribute to cancer risk or affect cancer outcomes in ways that are particularly relevant for military communities. The opportunity also emphasizes cancers or cancer-risk circumstances that may affect military families, reflecting the idea that family health and long-term well-being are part of total force readiness.

This award is explicitly not meant to fund incremental research or the next logical step of an existing program of work. The program discourages proposals that simply extend an established line of investigation, make small advances, or repurpose an already-used model system for a different cancer without a truly novel angle. Instead, the research should be creative and innovative in a way that challenges existing assumptions, introduces a new paradigm, or approaches a persistent problem from a fresh and compelling perspective. Even though the program supports exploratory work, it still requires a strong scientific foundation: proposals should present a clear, testable hypothesis and a rigorous study design that can credibly answer the research questions being posed.

A notable feature is that preliminary data are not required, and in many cases they are not expected. The award is meant to enable new directions rather than sustain ongoing laboratory work. Aside from truly unexpected or serendipitous findings that help motivate the idea, applicants are generally not supposed to frame the project as a continuation of what their lab is already doing. The intended outcome is the creation of robust preliminary results that can serve as a launchpad for future, larger studies. These follow-on efforts might focus on understanding mechanisms of cancer initiation or progression, improving quality of life during and after treatment, or building the evidence needed to develop new interventions relevant to military and civilian populations.

From an administrative standpoint, this FY18 opportunity is listed as W81XWH 18 PRCRP IASF and falls under CFDA 12.420. Funding can be made through either grants or cooperative agreements, and eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of organizations may apply (subject to any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement). The anticipated maximum for direct costs across the full period of performance is capped at $400,000, with applicants expected to follow the specific funding restrictions described in the detailed guidance. The posting dates indicate it was created May 2, 2018, with an original closing date of September 26, 2018, and the agency anticipated making around 40 awards.

Finally, applicants are expected to clearly articulate military relevance, aligning their justification with the PRCRP military relevance focus areas and the broader missions of the Defense Health Program (DHP) and the FY18 PRCRP. The opportunity directs prospective applicants to program and context resources, including the PRCRP website, PRCRP reports to Congress, and information about the Military Health System and the Department of Veterans Affairs, all of which can help applicants frame why their proposed innovation matters in a military health context.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Idea Award with Special Focus" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 02, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 26, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 40 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for W81XWH 18 PRCRP IASF

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