DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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NEWS RELEASE

Released: January 23, 2012

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program
Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2012

The Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) Defense Appropriations Act provides $120 million (M) to the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) to support innovative, high-impact breast cancer research. The BCRP is administered by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) through the Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The BCRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications. FY12 BCRP program announcements and general application instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on Grants.gov in February 2012. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Translational Research Award Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • Supports the acceleration of research with a high potential for direct clinical translation that will result in significant improvements over current approaches to breast cancer prevention and/or therapy.
  • Applications will be supported in two stages. Stage I will enable completion of preclinical translational studies and Food and Drug Administration approvals (if needed). Stage II will initiate and execute the prospective clinical trial.
  • Preliminary data are required.
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding of $12M for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 5 years.
Era of Hope Scholar Award Independent, non-mentored investigators within 6 years of their last mentored position as of the application submission deadline.
  • Supports exceptionally talented, creative early-career scientists who have demonstrated that they are the "best and brightest" in their fields.
  • Individuals should exhibit strong potential for leadership in the breast cancer community.
  • Maximum funding of $2.5M for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 5 years.
Idea Award Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
  • Supports innovative, high-risk/high-reward research ideas that have extraordinary potential to yield highly impactful data.
  • Innovation and Impact are the most important review criteria.
  • Preliminary data are allowed, but not required.
  • Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option supports combining expertise of two PIs to more effectively address a research question.
  • Preproposal is required; limit of one preproposal per PI; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding of $375K for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 2 years.
Impact Award Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • Supports unique research projects that focus on scientific and clinical breast cancer issues, which, if successfully addressed, could ultimately have a major impact on the understanding, prevention, and/or treatment of breast cancer.
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding of $2M for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 5 years.
Innovator Award Associate Professor or above (or equivalent).
  • Supports visionary individuals who have demonstrated creativity, innovative work, and leadership in any field.
  • Provides opportunity to pursue novel, visionary, high-risk ideas that could ultimately lead to the end of breast cancer.
  • Nomination is required and self-nominations are accepted; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding of $5M for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 5 years.
Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Principal Investigator: Doctoral graduates (Ph.D. or M.D.). Clinical investigators are eligible to apply. Must have no more than 2 years experience in the proposed research setting and no more than 4 years of postdoctoral research experience as of the application deadline.

Mentor or formal co-mentor must have breast cancer research experience, including current funding and publications.
  • Supports the training of exceptionally talented recent doctoral graduates.
  • Individualized training program and mentorship should prepare the PI for an independent career at the forefront of breast cancer research.
  • Proposed research should address a critical problem in breast cancer research.
  • Maximum funding of $300K for direct costs ($100K per year; plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 3 years.
Transformative Vision Award Independent investigators at any academic level (or equivalent).
  • Supports a research effort to realize a vision for dramatically affecting the prevention or treatment of breast cancer as quickly as possible.
  • Teams must include consumer advocates who will be integrated into the planning and implementation of the research project.
  • Applications with multiple PIs are allowed; however, PIs should have demonstrated experience in successfully leading large, focused projects.
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding of $12M for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance not to exceed 5 years.

All applications must conform to the final program announcements and 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 USAMRMC funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the CDMRP eReceipt website (http://cdmrp.org) prior to the pre-application deadline. Applications must be submitted through the federal government's single-entry portal, Grants.gov. Submission deadlines are not available until the program announcements are released. Requests for email notification of the program announcements release may be sent to help@cdmrp.org. For more information about the BCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

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