DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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NEWS RELEASE

Released: May 4, 2015

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program
Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15)

The Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) Defense Appropriations Act provides $3.2 million (M) to the Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program (DMDRP) to support innovative, high-impact Duchenne muscular dystrophy research. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, Research, Development, and Acquisition (DHA RDA) Directorate manages and executes the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The executing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The DMDRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications. FY15 DMDRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in late May 2015. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.

Focus Areas: The FY15 DMDRP encourages research projects that specifically address the critical needs of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy community in the following Focus Areas:

  • Cardiopulmonary studies
  • Clinical studies and novel interventions that could improve clinical care and quality of life in the near term, such as:
    • Co-morbidity studies
    • Endocrine and bone issues
    • Gastrointestinal issues
    • Cognitive function
  • Discovery and qualification of pharmacodynamic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers, e.g., as drug development tools, indicators of disease progression, response to treatment, or clinical trial outcomes
  • Assessment of clinical trial outcomes (invasive and noninvasive methods), such as
    • Molecular, functional, imaging, etc.
    • Evaluating surrogate markers
    • Evaluating potential composite scores for outcomes assessment
    • Patient-centered outcomes, e.g., quality of life, activities of daily living
  • Extension or expansion of preclinical translational data in support of the therapeutic development path (including independent replication and comparative studies)

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Investigator-Initiated Research Award Principal Investigator: Must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Optional Nested Resident or Medical Student Trainee: Resident trainee must be enrolled in an accredited residency program. Medical student trainee must be enrolled in a nationally accredited (or equivalent) medical school. Trainees must be able to devote a minimum of 40% level of effort.
  • Supports translational research that will have an impact on extending and improving the function, quality of life, and lifespan for all individuals diagnosed with DMD.
  • Clinical trials are allowed.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Maximum funding of $575,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance should not exceed 3 years.
  • Nested traineeship: Additional maximum of $50,000 for residents or $30,000 for medical students in direct costs (plus indirect costs) over a one-year period of performance.
Therapeutic Idea Award Principal Investigator: Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
  • Supports early-stage, high-risk/high-reward research that leads to novel therapeutic development for DMD treatment.
  • Innovation and impact are primary criteria.
  • Studies should be hypothesis-based with a strong research strategy.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • Maximum funding of $300,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance should not exceed 2 years.
Translational Leverage Award Principal Investigator: Must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
  • Supports the leveraging of existing human-based DMD resources in translational research to investigate high-impact research ideas or unmet needs in a FY15 DMDRP Focus Area.
  • Supports translational research projects leveraging and/or querying existing repositories, registries, and/or clinical trials or clinical studies.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Maximum funding of $250,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Period of performance should not exceed 2 years

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General 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 CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

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@eBRAP.org. For more information about the DMDRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil