For many of us, the year 2020 began with the spirit of inspiration and new hope. Six months later, that spirit has been beaten, burned and placed in isolation. From disease to civil unrest, the past six months have been fraught with challenges unlike any seen in our lifetimes. These are, without a doubt, stressful times for all of us. However, these times are being met head-on with strong and passionate voices. In unison with our colleagues, national leaders, and many Americans, NAVREF supports these voices in saying enough is enough.

Although one more corporate statement might do little to change our country, our team believes saying nothing is a statement of compliance. Words matter. Words can ignite hate. And words can bring about change.

The NAVREF team undisputedly advocates for full equality. In our niche role supporting veterans’ health research, we focus on improving and saving lives through scientific discovery without discrimination. However, we must acknowledge that our industry is also imperfect. So, let us make our position very clear. We must usher-in equality and unity through systemic reform focused on equal justice for all and holding leaders accountable. This notion of justice and accountability is non-negotiable.

The NAVREF staff will play our part as we continue our mission to enhance veterans’ research.

To our members, the nation, and our human family, we wish you peace and positivity in these difficult times.

The Senate passed legislation on June 3rd to provide more flexibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides help for small businesses amid the steep economic impact of the coronavirus.

"Today we're passing another piece of legislation that makes a few targeted changes to the program," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced from the floor. "I'm proud the Senate is sending it on to the president's desk to become law."

The bill, which would extend the window for businesses to be able to spend loans granted under the program, passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill already passed the House last month, meaning it now goes to the President's desk where it is expected he will sign the bill into law.  

The new bill passed by Congress would extend the current language to allow businesses up to 24 weeks to spend PPP funds. It would also change a 75-25 divide included in the March bill — which required businesses to spend 75 percent of the loan on payroll and 25 percent on other fixed costs such as rent and utilities. The new language will change the ratio to a 60-40 split.

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Lupus Research Program (LRP) to support the full spectrum of research projects or ideas that specifically focus on scientific and clinical lupus issues, which, if successfully addressed, have the potential to make a major impact in lupus 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).

 

The FY20 LRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.

 

Applications submitted to the FY20 LRP Idea Award and/or Impact Award must address one or more of the following Focus Areas:

 

• ·         Understanding how lupus disease heterogeneity impacts risk of disease, disease presentation, clinical course, and outcomes; using a diverse range of research disciplines including, but not limited to, biopsychosocial studies, personalized medicine, variation in treatment studies, personalized medicine, variation in treatment studies, health economics, socioeconomic studies, environmental studies, and epidemiological studies
• ·         Understanding lupus disease heterogeneity including, but not limited to, strategies and technologies to subtype patients and understanding lupus disease mechanisms
• ·         Improving quality of life for individuals living with lupus including, but not limited to, access to healthcare resources, outcome research, symptom control, comparative effectiveness research, and issues and challenges that when addressed make day-to-day living with lupus easier and life more fulfilling
• ·         Understanding how the underlying genetic components and gene-environment interactions of lupus relate to clinical disease characteristics using functional genomic studies
• ·         Determining the pathobiology of lupus disease in target human tissues including, but not limited to, imagining studies, genomics of lupus in particular tissues, and metabolomics

Applications submitted to the FY20 LRP Transformative Vision Award must address the following Focus Area:

 

• ·         Improving quality of life for individuals living with lupus including, but not limited to, access to healthcare resources, outcome research, symptom control, comparative effectiveness research, and issues and challenges that when addressed make day-to-day living with lupus easier and life more fulfilling

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/lrp

 

Idea Award – Letter of Intent Due August 25, 2020

All investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (or equivalent)

·         Supports highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking ideas in lupus research.

·         Emphasis is on innovation

·         Must address one of the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) LRP Focus Areas

·         Clinical trials are not allowed

·         Preliminary data are not required

·       The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is  in total costs

·       The maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

Impact Award – Letter of Intent is Due August 25, 2020

Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

·         Supports innovative, high-risk/high-reward research

·         Emphasis is on impact

·         Must address one of the FY20 LRP Focus Areas

·         Clinical trials are not allowed

·         Preliminary data are encouraged but not required

·         The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $750,000 in total costs.

·         The maximum period of performance is 4 years

 

Transformative Vision Award – Letter of Intent due August 25, 2020

Independent Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

·         Supports high-risk, high-reward studies that have the potential to make a significant near-term impact on the quality of life of lupus patients

·         Emphasis is on near-term impact to quality of life

·         Must address the FY20 LRP TVA Focus Areas

·         Clinical trials are allowed

·         Animal studies are not allowed

·         Preliminary data are required

·       The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $2,500,000 in total costs

·       The maximum period of performance is 4 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 LRP 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

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program (DMDRP) to support research addressing discovery and development of therapeutics, devices, and other interventions.  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).

 

The FY20 DMDRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.    

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/dmdrp

 

Idea Development Award – Pre-application due August 12, 2020

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).

·       Supports the development of innovative, high-impact ideas that advance the understanding of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and ultimately lead to improved outcomes.

·       Must address opportunities and challenges in the development of safe and effective macromolecular and cellular therapies that address primary pathology of DMD.  Eligible therapeutic strategies include: gene therapy, genome editing, oligonucleotide therapies, exon skipping, protein therapeutics, and cell therapies. Therapies that will be efficacious across the life-span, particularly in adolescents and adults are encouraged.

·       Preliminary data are required.

·       Clinical trials are not allowed.

·       Maximum funding of $350,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).

·       Maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

Translational Research Partnership Award – Pre-application due August 12, 2020

Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

·       Supports the development of translational research collaborations between two independent investigators to address a critical problem or question in DMD and to accelerate the movement of promising ideas into clinical application.

·       Partnerships where one partner in the collaboration is a research scientist and the other is a clinician are strongly encouraged.

·       Must address one of the FY20 Translational Research Partnership Award Focus Areas

·       Preliminary data are required.

·       Clinical trials are allowed.

·       Maximum combined funding of $1,200,000 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 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 DMDRP 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

The Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research asked Congress on May 21st to support an additional $50 million towards Veterans Affairs COVID-19 research. As many know, the VA Office of Research and Development has been working tirelessly to quickly setup trials and studies aimed at finding solutions to fight COVID-19. This shift of effort has also required as shift of resources which is where FOVA has come in to play. Read more about this effort here in their letter to Congress.  

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Epilepsy Research Program (ERP) to understand the causative links between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy so that post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) will be both preventable and treatable.  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).

 

The FY20 ERP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website. 

 

Applications submitted to the FY20 ERP should address one or more of the following Focus Areas.  An application that proposes research outside of the FY20 Focus Areas is acceptable, as long as the applicant provides a strong rationale.  The Focus Areas will be mechanism-specific.

 

• Innovative Research:  Tools intended to better inform or improve upon how PTE research can be performed:
• • Hardware and/or software platforms that will improve seizure detection, characterization, or diagnosis
  • Bioinformatics strategies, to include machine learning, that will improve access, annotation, curation, and visualization of large and novel datasets from single or multiple sources
  • Development of new models or better characterization of existing etiologically relevant models for PTE
  • Improved characterization of the circuits involved in PTE
  • Validate targets of post-traumatic epileptogenesis or established PTE
• Markers and Mechanisms:  Identifying markers or mechanisms via preclinical models that address PTE, which may include the following:
• • Biomarkers
  • Treatment
  • Prevention
  • Diagnosis
  • Prognosis
  • Comorbidity
• Epidemiology:  Epidemiological characterization of PTE following TBI, which may include the following:
• • Risk factors such as demographics, genetics, anatomy, pathology, or type of injury
  • Outcomes including latency to epilepsy, comorbidities, and mortality
  • Pre-existing conditions including psychological and psychiatric risk factors
  • Treatment and healthcare outcomes research
  • Differentiation of PTE and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES)
• Longitudinal Studies: Studies of the evolution of PTE, which may include the following:
• • Seizure frequency and semiology
  • Demographics, genetics, anatomy, pathology, or type of injury
  • Comorbidities (e.g., depression, functional deficits, sleep disorders, major illness)
  • Latency between type of injury and PTE
  • Mortality
  • Treatment and healthcare outcomes research
• Quality of Life: Studies focused on improving quality of life for individuals with PTE and their caregivers by addressing the following:
• • Psychosocial factors
  • Neuropsychological dysfunction (cognition and memory)
  • Behavioral health (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, impulsivity)
  • Wellness
  • Reducing stigma
  • Activities of daily living
  • Care gaps (adjunct programs, support groups, access to care)
  • Sleep disorders
  • Medication side effects
  •  

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/erp

 

Idea Development Award – Letter of Intent due June 22, 2020

Level I:  Investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (e.g., research associates, fellows, medical residents, or equivalent) but below the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) at the time of the application deadline.

Mentor(s) required.

Level II:  The Principal Investigator (PI) must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

Intent:  To solicit novel, innovative research to understand the magnitude and underlying mechanisms of post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE).

·         Applicant can be from any field of discipline and must write the project narrative and other application components, with appropriate guidance from the Mentor(s).  The Mentor(s) must possess qualifications, background, and experience in PTE research.

·         Level II is intended to support a more mature, hypothesis-driven research project. Applicants can be from any field or discipline.

Applicants should select one of the Focus Areas below:

·         Innovative Research

·         Markers and Mechanisms

·         Epidemiology

·         Longitudinal Studies

While not required, applications to either Funding Level I or II are encouraged to provide relevant preliminary data.

Clinical pharmacologic trials are specifically discouraged.

Level I:

·       Maximum funding of $300,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

Level II:

·       Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

 

 

Quality of Life Award – Letter of Intent due June 22, 2020

Level I:  Investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (e.g., research associates, fellows, medical residents, or equivalent) but below the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) at the time of the application deadline.

Mentor required.

Level II:  The PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Intent:  To support innovative research that improves the quality of life and care for individuals living with the common symptoms of PTE.

·         Level I: Applicant can be from any field or discipline and must write the project narrative and other application components, with appropriate guidance from the Mentor(s).  The Mentor(s) must possess qualifications, background, and experience in PTE research.

·         Level II is intended to support a more mature, hypothesis-driven research project.  Applicants can be from any field or discipline. 

The following Focus Area must be addressed as part of the application:

• Quality of Life

An application that proposes research outside of this Focus Area will be withdrawn.

While not required, applications to either Funding Level I or II are encouraged to provide relevant preliminary data.

Clinical pharmacologic trials are specifically discouraged.

Animal research is specifically discouraged.

Level I:

·       Maximum funding of $300,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

Level II:

·       Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

 

Research Partnership Award – Letter of Intent due June 22, 2020

The initiating PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Each named Co-PI must be at or above the level of assistant professor (or equivalent)

Intent:  To create an avenue for collaborative research partnerships between/among investigators to address a research problem or question in a manner that would be unachievable through separate efforts. 

·       Level I is intended to support preclinical or pre-validation research.

·       Level II is intended to support research requiring access to a patient cohort for a prospective study.

Applications must include clearly stated plans for interactions between/among the partners.  The plans must include communication, decision-making, allocation of resources, coordination of research progress and results, and sharing of data among all investigators and organizations participating in the project.

Applicant should select one of the Focus Areas below:

·       Markers and Mechanisms

·       Epidemiology

·      Longitudinal Studies

Preliminary data to support the feasibility of the research hypothesis (or hypotheses) or objectives are required.

Clinical pharmacologic trials are specifically discouraged

Level I:

·       Maximum funding of $1,300,000 in total costs

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

Level II:

·       Maximum funding of $3,100,000 in total costs

·       Maximum period of performance is 4 years

·       Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s rate agreement

 

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 ERP 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

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program (DMDRP) to support research addressing discovery and development of therapeutics, devices, and other interventions.  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).

The DMDRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications for submission to the anticipated FY20 DMDRP Program Announcements.  This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.  The FY20 DMDRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms will be posted on the Grants.gov website.  Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released. 

https://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/press/2020/20dmdrppreann

Idea Development Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).

·      Supports the development of innovative, high-impact ideas that advance the understanding of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and ultimately lead to improved outcomes.

·      Must address opportunities and challenges in the development of safe and effective macromolecular and cellular therapies that address primary pathology of DMD.  Eligible therapeutic strategies include: gene therapy, genome editing, oligonucleotide therapies, exon skipping, protein therapeutics, and cell therapies. Therapies that will be efficacious across the life-span, particularly in adolescents and adults are encouraged.

·      Preliminary data required.

·      Clinical trials are not allowed.

·      Maximum funding of $350,000 in total costs

·      Maximum period of performance is 2 years

Translational Research Partnership Award

Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

·      Supports the development of translational research collaborations between two independent investigators to address a critical problem or question in DMD and to accelerate the movement of promising ideas into clinical application.

·      Partnerships where one partner in the collaboration is a research scientist and the other is a clinician are strongly encouraged.

·      Must address one of the FY20 Translational Research Partnership Award Focus Areas

·      Preliminary data required.

·      Clinical trials are allowed.

·      Maximum combined funding of $1,200,000 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 and other USAMRDC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

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.  For more information about the DMDRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil

Contributed by the VA Office of Research and Development

Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a three-phase plan for resuming regular operations at its medical centers, benefit offices and national cemeteries in a post-COVID-19 setting.

VA never closed its doors during the pandemic but did implement a wide range of actions to ensure the safety of its patients and employees. Under VA’s plan, conditions on the ground will determine how quickly each facility resumes normal operations, and each phase of the plan is aimed at making sure that Veterans’ safety comes first.

“A central planning solution for resuming regular operations makes no sense here because some areas of the country will take longer to recover, while other areas have seen minimal cases,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “That’s why we’re letting local conditions dictate our next steps.”

VA medical facilities will be permitted to embark on Phase 1 of the plan once certain local conditions have been met. These conditions include falling numbers of patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, reduced numbers of people testing positive for the virus, and increased testing capacity.

Once these and other conditions are met, local VA facilities will maintain their current risk-mitigation activities (such as continued telework when possible) but may also begin assessing how best to permit elective procedures and resume certain face-to-face visits that have been postponed.

Phase 2 of the plan is the resumption of services that have been postponed, again as deemed possible based on local conditions, and subject to safety protocols deemed as necessary by local staff.

In Phase 3, VA facilities will again allow visitors to hospitals, community living centers, senior living facilities, and spinal cords injury and disorder units after a full assessment of the risks and only amid continuing improvement in their part of the country. Most VA employees will also return to work in this phase.

VA’s national cemeteries, benefit administrators and Board of Veterans Appeals will also be using this same three-phase approach to determine whether and how best to resume things like public cemetery interments and face-to-face meetings with Veterans about their benefit status.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has extended the deadline to repay Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by one week.

In further response to the SBA's recent guidance in FAQ 31 reminding borrowers to review carefully the certification required for PPP loans that "[c]urrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant" and providing a safe harbor to repay any PPP loan by May 7, 2020, so as to avoid any contention that such certification was not in fact made in good faith, the SBA released FAQ 43 on May 5, 2020.

In FAQ 43, the SBA advises that:

• SBA is extending the repayment date for the safe harbor to May 14, 2020.
• Borrowers do not need to apply for this extension.
• The extension will be promptly implemented through a revision to the SBA's interim final rule providing the safe harbor.
• SBA intends to provide additional guidance on how it will review the certification prior to May 14, 2020.

Borrowers of PPP loans should consider carefully both the new deadline and the expected additional guidance on how the SBA will review certifications, if feasible, before submitting an application or deciding whether to retain borrowed PPP funds.

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Multiple Sclerosis Research Program (MSRP) to support innovative and impactful research that addresses fundamental issues and gaps in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  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).

The FY20 MSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website. 

Applications submitted to the FY20 MSRP must address at least one of the Focus Areas relevant to the award mechanism as described in the Table below.

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/msrp

Clinical Trial Award (NEW!!!) – Preproposal due June 17, 2020

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

·      Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·      Supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials with the potential to have a significant impact on the treatment or management of MS.

·      Funds Phase 0, I or II clinical trials relevant to MS; combinations of phases are permitted.

·      Funding must support a clinical trial and may not be used for preclinical studies.

·      Anticipated that budgets will not exceed $1.5 million in direct costs (plus indirect costs).

·      Period of performance not to exceed 4 years.

Exploration -Hypothesis Development Award – Preproposal due June 17, 2020

Established Investigators: Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or

New Investigators:

·      Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) with no more than  3 years from the start of their  faculty position

·      Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·      Supports the initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high-gain, and potentially groundbreaking concepts in the MS research field.

·      Preliminary data not required.

·      Clinical trials not allowed.

• New Investigator Option supports applicants early in their faculty appointments.

·      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 due June 17, 2020

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 with the potential to make an important contribution to MS research and/or patient care.

·      Preliminary data 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 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 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