DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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NEWS RELEASE

Released: May 25, 2010

Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Funding for Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10)

The Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Defense Appropriations Act provides $11.25 million to the Department of Defense (DOD) Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) to promote innovative research into regenerating damaged spinal cords, arthritis research, 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 US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command through the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The FY10 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://www.grants.gov and https://cdmrp.health.mil, respectively) in June 2010.

Award Mechanism

Eligibility

Key Mechanism Elements

Funding

Clinical Trial Award - Rehabilitation

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

  • Fund small clinical trials relevant to rehabilitation of SCI
  • Preclinical data required for all clinical trial proposals; Phase I or pilot clinical trial data required for Phase II clinical trial proposals
  • Clinical expertise required by Principal Investigator (PI)
  • Partnership between clinicians and bioengineers is encouraged
  • Nested New Investigator option is encouraged
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum additional funding of up to $63,000 Nested New Investigator (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 4 years
  • Anticipate 3 awards

Translational Research Partnership Award

Initiating 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
  • Minimum of 2 PIs required; maximum of 3 PIs allowed (at least one partner must be a clinician and one must be a SCI laboratory researcher)
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Projects must be multi-institutional
  • Preliminary data is required
  • Nested New Investigator option is encouraged
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum additional funding of up to $63,000 for Nested New Investigator (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
  • Anticipate 2 awards

Investigator-Initiated Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Qualified Optional Collaborator: Must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

  • Fund SCI-related research that will make an original and important contribution to the field of research or patient care
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Qualified Collaborator option with up to 3 collaborators
  • Preliminary data is required
  • 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 3 awards

Investigator-Initiated Focused Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

  • Fund qualitative research on military personnel and combat veterans to include family members/caregivers
  • Qualitative research is defined as a form of social inquiry that focuses on understanding the way that people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live (i.e., seek to understand the human experience).
  • Preliminary data is allowed but not required
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

  • Maximum funding of $300,000 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. Details released in this preannouncement are subject to change. 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 General 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 (https://www.grants.gov) upon release. Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities and General 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 (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 Program Announcements release may be sent to help@cdmrp.org. For more information about the SCIRP or other CDMRP-sponsored programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

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