DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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NEWS RELEASE

Released: July 8, 2009

Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Funding for Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09)

The Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Defense Appropriations Act (Public Law 110-329) provides $35 million to the Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP)to promote innovative research into regenerating/repairing damaged spinal cords and improving rehabilitation therapies that offer real promise for enhancing long-term care of wounded soldiers. The SCIRP challenges the scientific community to design innovative research that will foster new directions for and address neglected issues in the field of SCI-focused research. The vision of the SCIRP is to advance the understanding of spinal cord injury and ameliorate its consequences. This program is administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command through the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The FY09 SCIRP award mechanisms are listed in the table below. Mechanism-specific Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities, including the intent of the award mechanism, eligibility, and submission deadlines, and Application Instructions and General Information are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov and CDMRP websites (https://grants.gov and https://CDMRP.HEALTH.MIL/funding/prorp.htm, respectively) in July 2009.

The FY09 PRORP will offer one additional award mechanism, the Clinical Consortium Award, which is expected to be released in late September.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Trial Award-Rehabilitation Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • Fund Phase 0, I, II or III clinical trials focused on rehabilitative aspects of SCI
  • Preclinical data required for all clinical trial proposals
  • Phase I or pilot clinical trial data required for Phase II clinical trial proposals
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $1,500,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 4 years
  • Anticipate 4 awards
Translational Research Partnership Award Initiating Principal Investigator (PI): Must be an independent investigator

Partnering PI(s): Must be an independent investigator
  • Fund partnerships between clinicians and laboratory scientists that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications
  • Special emphasis on development and refinement of outcome measures
  • Minimum of 2 PIs required, maximum of 3 PIs allowed.
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Proposals should emphasize multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional projects
  • Preliminary data is required.
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance not to exceed 3 years
  • Anticipate 5 awards
Investigator-Initiated Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Optional Collaborator: Must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
  • To support SCI-related research that will make an original and important contribution to the field of research or patient care
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Optional Collaborator: Collaborations that meet the criteria outlined in the Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity will be qualified for a higher level of funding.
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs) for proposals including a Qualified Collaborator
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
  • Anticipate 8 awards
Exploration-Hypothesis Development Award Investigators at all levels of experience
  • Fund the initial exploration of innovative, untested research, and pursue serendipitous observations
  • Projects involving human subjects or human biological substances must be either exempt under 32 CFR 219.101(b) or eligible for expedited review (32 CFR 219.110 or 21 CFR 56.110)
  • Preliminary data is allowed but not required
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Maximum funding of $100,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 2 years
  • Anticipate 10 awards
Advanced Technology/Therapeutic Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Optional Partnering PI(s): Must be an independent investigator
  • To support SCI-related development of new diagnostics, therapies, or clinical policy/guidance that have the potential to make a strong impact on patient care
  • Product-oriented device, drug, or clinical policy/guidance
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Partnering PI option with up to 3 PIs
  • Preliminary data is required.
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $1,400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
  • Anticipate 3 awards

Information in this pre-announcement is being provided to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications. All applications must conform to the requirements specified in the Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities, which will be posted on Grants.gov at a later date. The number of awards anticipated is based on available funds, average cost of applications, and quality of applications received. The SCIRP reserves the right to make awards in greater or lesser numbers than anticipated. Each Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity and Application Instructions, which detail the pre-application and application submission requirements and process, along with the required forms for application submission, will be available electronically for downloading from the Grants.gov website (Grants.gov) upon release. Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities and Application Instructions will also be available on the CDMRP website (https://CDMRP.HEALTH.MIL). Pre-application and application submission deadlines will be listed in the Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity.

A pre-application (letter of intent or preproposal) is required for all award mechanisms and must be submitted through the CDMRP eReceipt website (https://cdmrp.org) prior to application submission. Applications must be submitted through the federal government's single-entry portal, Grants.gov.

Requests for email notification of the release of Program Announcements may be sent to help@cdmrp.org. For more information about the SCIRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://CDMRP.HEALTH.MIL).

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Last updated Tuesday, November 12, 2024