DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS

NEWS RELEASE

Released: May 2, 2012

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2012

The Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) Defense Appropriations Act provides $9.6 million to the Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP). 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 treatment of spinal cord injury and 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 FY12 SCIRP award mechanisms are listed in the table below. Mechanism-specific Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities, including areas of encouragement, the intent of the award mechanism, eligibility, and submission deadlines, and General Application Instructions, are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov and CDMRP websites (https://www.grants.gov and https://CDMRP.HEALTH.MIL, respectively) in late May/early June 2012.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Trial Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Fund phase 0, I, or II clinical trials (no longer limited to rehabilitation studies)
  • Preclinical data required for all clinical trial applications
  • Comparative effectiveness studies are encouraged
  • Clinical expertise required by Principal Investigator (PI)
  • Preproposal required; application submission by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 4 years
Investigator-Initiated Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (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
  • Preliminary data required
  • Preproposal required; application submission by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
Translational Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Fund studies that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications
  • New for FY12: Now supporting individual investigators; no longer limited to multidisciplinary partnerships
  • Clinical trials not allowed
  • Preliminary data required
  • Preproposal required; application submission by invitation only
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years

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 and the CDMRP website (https://CDMRP.HEALTH.MIL) at a later date. Submission deadlines are not available until the program announcements are released.

A pre-application (preproposal) is required and must be submitted through the CDMRP eReceipt website (http://cdmrp.org) prior to application submission. Applications must be submitted through the federal government's single-entry portal, Grants.gov. Individual program announcements and required forms will also be found on the Grants.gov website.

Requests for email notification of the release of program announcements may be sent to Help@cdmrp.org. Email notifications of funding opportunities are sent as a courtesy and should not be used as a sole source of notification; applicants should monitor Grants.gov for official postings of funding opportunities.

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
CDMRP.PublicAffairs@amedd.army.mil