DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Translational Team Science Award | W81XWH 18 PRCRP TTSA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 18 PRCRP TTSA

The DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Translational Team Science Award (TTSA) is a fiscal year 2018 funding opportunity from the Department of Defense (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity) designed to push promising cancer findings closer to real-world clinical use. The program is specifically aimed at hypothesis-driven translational research that is already grounded in clinical evidence, meaning applicants are expected to build on results coming out of clinical investigations rather than starting from early discovery work. Projects are expected to be tied to an ongoing or completed clinical trial and/or to rely on existing annotated biorepositories (collections of human samples that include linked clinical and outcome data). The overall intent is to support the kind of advanced translational work that directly informs a next-phase clinical trial or a near-term clinical application, such as improving how cancer is prevented, detected, diagnosed, treated, or managed during survivorship.

A defining feature of the TTSA is that it funds team-based science rather than single-lab projects. Applications must be led by a collaboration of at least two, and no more than three, Principal Investigators working under one integrated research plan. The funding logic here is that meaningful translation typically requires multiple disciplines, for example clinicians, translational scientists, biomarker experts, statisticians, and outcomes researchers all contributing essential pieces. The DoD strongly encourages including at least one military or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) investigator as an equal research partner with real intellectual and workload commitments. This includes active duty or reserve personnel, DoD civilian investigators, or investigators based at VA research facilities. Importantly, the military or VA collaborator is not supposed to be a token addition simply to gain access to military or VA patient populations; they are expected to play a substantial scientific role.

The translational expectation is also explicit. Proposals need to show two-way movement between basic and clinical science, such as using clinical observations to refine mechanistic hypotheses and then returning those insights back to the clinic through validation, stratification tools, or trial-ready approaches. The program emphasizes leveraging clinical information to close critical knowledge gaps that affect patient outcomes, validate key results that look promising but still need confirmation in clinically relevant settings, expand upon potentially game-changing clinical signals, or investigate new clinical findings that could alter practice. While the award can support clinical trials, the opportunity is not meant to function as a clinical trial-only funding mechanism; rather, it supports broader clinical research studies conducted by multidisciplinary teams where a trial may be one component of a larger translational package.

For FY18, the TTSA highlights several encouraged research directions: patient-reported outcomes, survivorship, and quality of life; the relationship between prevention strategies and long-term (longitudinal) cancer risk outcomes; and risk stratification for both primary cancers and metastatic disease. In practical terms, this means the DoD is especially interested in studies that help predict who is most at risk, who is most likely to benefit from specific interventions, and how cancer and its treatment affect patients over time, including functional outcomes that matter to patients but may not be captured by traditional clinical endpoints.

The mechanism is flexible in terms of research materials and platforms. Studies may involve animal models, human subjects, and/or human anatomical substances, and the development or use of relevant preclinical models can be included when it directly supports translation to clinical application. At the same time, the TTSA is not intended to support large-scale high-throughput activities such as broad screening or sequencing efforts as a primary project focus. The expectation is that applicants have a targeted, hypothesis-driven plan anchored to clinical relevance, rather than an exploratory data-generation approach.

Military relevance is a required element. Proposed work must address at least one FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Area and demonstrate clear relevance to active duty Service members, Veterans, and other military beneficiaries. The program also notes broader relevance to the American public, but the military connection is central and must be justified in the application. Applicants are directed to PRCRP and military health-related resources (including the Military Health System and VA) for context on military needs and priorities.

From a competitiveness standpoint, preliminary clinical evidence is required. Applicants must include clinical data within the application and/or cite prior relevant clinical work by the investigative team that supports the project rationale and feasibility. This reinforces the program’s emphasis on advanced translation rather than early-stage discovery.

Administratively, the opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-18-PRCRP-TTSA) is offered as a discretionary award mechanism and may be made as a cooperative agreement or grant under CFDA 12.420. Eligibility is broadly unrestricted (open to any entity type, subject to any additional eligibility details in the full announcement). The anticipated cap for direct costs is up to $1,000,000 for the entire period of performance, and the DoD expected to make roughly 10 awards under this solicitation. The original posting date was May 2, 2018, with an original closing date of September 26, 2018.

• 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, Translational Team Science Award" 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 10 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 TTSA

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