Due to the current Continuing Resolution, the Fiscal Year 2017 Defense Appropriations bill has not been passed.
Although funds have not been appropriated for the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP), the LCRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY17 funding opportunities.
FY17 LCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on Grants.gov in April 2017. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released.
The pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the Government, and funding of research projects received in response to these Program Announcements is contingent on the availability of Federal funds appropriated for the LCRP. 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. Applications submitted to the FY17 LCRP must address at least one of the seven Areas of Emphasis listed below:
Identify, develop, or optimize noninvasive or minimally invasive tools to improve the detection of the initial stages of lung cancer, such as, but not limited to, optimizing strategies for management of indeterminate nodules.
Identify, develop, and/or build upon already existing tools for screening or early detection of lung cancer. Screening may include, but is not limited to, imaging modalities, biomarkers, genetics/genomics/proteomics/metabolomics/transcriptomics, and assessment of risk factors.
Understand the molecular mechanisms of initiation and progression to clinically significant lung cancer.
Identify innovative strategies for prevention and treatment of early and/or localized lung cancer.
Understand predictive and prognostic markers to identify responders and nonresponders.
Understand susceptibility or resistance to treatment.
Understand contributors to lung cancer development other than tobacco.
Military Relevance: The FY17 LCRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service members, Veterans, and their families. Military relevance will be considered in determining relevance to the mission of the DHP and FY17 LCRP during programmatic review. Investigators are strongly encouraged to consider the following characteristics as examples of how a project may demonstrate military relevance:
Use of military or Veteran populations, biospecimens, data/databases, or programs in the proposed research.
Collaboration with Department of Defense or Department of Veterans Affairs investigators.
Involvement of military consultants (Army, Air Force) or specialty leaders (Navy, Marine Corps) to the Surgeons General in a relevant specialty area.
Description of how the knowledge, information, products, or technologies gained from the proposed research could be implemented in a dual-use capacity to address a military need that also benefits the civilian population.
Explanation of how the project addresses an aspect of lung cancer that has direct relevance to military Service members, Veterans, or other military health system beneficiaries, including environmental exposures other than tobacco.
Concept Award
Investigators at all academic levels
Supports highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking concepts in lung cancer
Emphasis on innovation
Clinical trials not allowed
Preliminary data discouraged
Military relevance strongly encouraged
Maximum funding of $100,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Period of performance should not exceed 1 year
Career Development Award
Principal Investigator: Independent investigators at the level of Assistant Professor, Instructor, or equivalent
Must be within 5 years of first faculty appointment Mentor: At or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent)
Have a proven publication and funding record in lung cancer research
Supports early-career, independent researchers to conduct research under mentorship of an experienced lung cancer researcher
Clinical trials not allowed
Preliminary data not required
Military relevance strongly encouraged
Maximum funding of $250,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Period of performance should not exceed 2 years
Idea Development Award
Established Investigators: Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent); or New Investigators:
Investigators that meet the following criteria at the application submission deadline date:
Have not previously received a LCRP Idea Development Award or Early Investigator Synergistic Idea Award
Are within 10 years of first faculty appointment (or equivalent)
Supports new ideas in the early stages of development representing innovative, high-risk/high-gain research
Emphasis on innovation and impact
New Investigator category supports applicants early in their faculty appointments or in the process of developing independent research careers
Clinical trials not allowed
Preliminary data required, but may be from outside of lung cancer
Military relevance strongly encouraged
Maximum funding of $350,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Period of performance should not exceed 2 years
Investigator-Initiated Translational Research Award
Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
Supports translational research that will develop promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications. Translational research may be defined as an integration of basic science and clinical observations
This mechanism is intended to fund a broad range of translational studies, including, but not limited to, the following:
Studies advancing/translating in vitro and/or animal studies to applications with human samples/cohorts
Late-stage preclinical work leading to/preparing for a clinical trial, e.g., Investigational New Drug submission
Correlative studies that are associated with an ongoing or completed clinical trial and projects that develop endpoints for clinical trials
Preliminary data required, but may be from outside of lung cancer
Military relevance strongly encouraged
Maximum funding of $400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs) Period of performance should not exceed 2 years
Translational Research Partnership Award
Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
Supports partnerships between clinicians and laboratory scientists that accelerate ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications
One partner must be from either a Military Treatment Facility or a VA medical center Non-Traditional Partnerships are encouraged
Small-scale clinical trials allowed Preliminary data required, but may be from outside of lung cancer
Military relevance strongly encouraged
Maximum combined funding of $900,000 for direct costs (plus indirect 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 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.
