The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $90 million (M) to the U.S. Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) to support innovative, high-impact cancer 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 Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

FY19 PRCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.

Congressionally Directed Topic Areas:  To be considered for funding, applications for the FY19 PRCRP must address at least one of the Topic Areas as directed by Congress.  Research applications in the areas of breast, prostate, lung (excluding mesothelioma), kidney, melanoma, or ovarian cancer will not be accepted.

The FY19 PRCRP Topic Areas are:

·         Bladder cancer ·         Blood cancers ·         Brain cancer ·         Cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults*

·         Colorectal cancer ·         Immunotherapy† ·         Listeria vaccine for cancer ·         Liver cancer ·         Lymphoma ·         Mesothelioma

·         Neuroblastoma ·         Pancreatic cancer ·         Pediatric brain tumors ·         Rare cancersǂ ·         Stomach cancer

*The definition of adolescents and young adults is derived from the National Cancer Institute (https://www.cancer.gov/types/aya) and can be considered to be people between 15 and 39 years of age.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s). Research should be targeted toward children (ages 0-14 years), adolescents (ages 15-24 years), and/or young adults (ages 25-39 years).

^†As derived from the National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer terms (http://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms).  Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s).

^ǂRare cancer is defined by the National Cancer Institute as a cancer that occurs in fewer than 15 out of 100,000 people each year.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s).

The FY19 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas are listed below:

It is central to the vision and mission of the PRCRP that applications address how the proposed research is related to military health and mission readiness of both deployed and non-deployed personnel, their dependents, retirees, and Veterans. The FY19 PRCRP requires all applications to respond to at least one of Military Relevance Focus Areas listed below:

• Militarily relevant risk factors associated with cancer (e.g., ionizing radiation, chemicals, infectious agents, environmental carcinogens, and stress)
• Gaps in cancer prevention, early detection/diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship that may impact mission readiness and the health and well-being of military members, Veterans, their beneficiaries, and the general public

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

Career Development Award – Letter of Intent due August 21, 2019

Principal Investigator (PI): Independent investigator within 10 years of completing terminal degree (excluding time spent in medical residency, clinical training, or on family medical leave) by the time of the application submission; time spent as a postdoctoral fellow is not excluded.

Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible.

Career Guide: Investigators at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent); must have a proven publication and funding record in cancer research.

The PI and the Career Guide do not need to be located at the same organization.\

• Letter of Intent is required.  An invitation to submit a full application is not
• Supports independent, early-career investigators to conduct impactful research, together with the guidance of an experienced cancer researcher.
• Must address at least one of the FY19 PRCRP Topic Areas.
• Must address at least one of the FY19 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
• Preliminary data are not required.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $360,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Horizon Award – Letter of Intent due August 21, 2019

Principal Investigator (PI):

Predoctoral candidate within 2 years of completion of required coursework/laboratory rotations, successfully passed qualifying examinations, and is working in his/her Mentor’s laboratory application submission deadline.

Or

Postdoctoral fellow within 3 years of completion of terminal degree and is working in his/her Mentor’s laboratory at application submission deadline.

Mentor: Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent); must have a proven publication and funding record in cancer research.

PI and Mentor must be at the same organization.

• Letter of Intent is required.  An invitation to submit a full application is not
• Supports junior-level scientists in conducting impactful research with the mentorship of an experienced cancer researcher (i.e., Mentor).
• Must address at least one of the FY19 PRCRP Topic Areas.
• Must address at least one of the FY19 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
• Preliminary data are not required.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $150,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• Maximum period of performance is 2 years

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org