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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

NEWS RELEASE

Released: December 6, 2019

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program
Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)

The Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) Defense Appropriations Bill has not been signed into law. Although FY20 funds have not been appropriated for the Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program (ALSRP), the ALSRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY20 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the Government.

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding to the Department of Defense ALSRP to support innovative and impactful research to develop new treatments for ALS. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

Subject to the FY20 Congressional appropriation for ALSRP funding, FY20 ALSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms will be posted on the Grants.gov website. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released. 

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Therapeutic Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Pre-application is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports preclinical secondary validation and IND-enabling studies of therapeutics for ALS.
  • Preliminary data is required, including efficacy in at least one ALS-relevant model system with a lead molecule/class of compounds.
  • Biomarker development and/or characterization (if not already validated), in parallel to the main therapeutic effort, is a critical component of the TDA proposal.
  • Maximum funding of $1,000,000 for direct costs plus indirect costs
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
Therapeutic Idea Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Pre-application is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports hypothesis-driven preclinical therapeutic development.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • Projects focusing primarily on investigating ALS pathophysiology are outside the scope of this award mechanism.
  • Early Career Investigators are encouraged to apply.
  • Therapeutic Relevant Biomarker Option: Applications which include the development of biomarkers in parallel with the main therapeutic advancement effort, and that meet the criteria outlined in the Funding Opportunity Announcement, will qualify for a higher level of funding.
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs plus indirect costs
  • Maximum funding of $600,000 for direct costs plus indirect costs if applying for the Therapeutic Relevant Biomarker Option
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years
New for FY20! Clinical Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Pre-application is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports leveraging of human-based ALS resources through correlative clinical research.
  • Early Career Investigators and/or Early Career Physician Scientists are encouraged to apply.
  • Types of efforts that will be supported include:
    • Using human subject-based resources to better define subtypes, predict therapeutic response, or assess prognosis
    • Correlating clinical trial-related biosamples, imaging, or epidemiological data with clinical outcomes
    • Adding a secondary aim/goal to an anticipated/ongoing clinical trial, not otherwise supported by the trial
    • Studies to evaluate optimizing components of current ALS clinical care
  • Maximum funding of $300,000 for direct costs plus indirect costs
  • Maximum period of performance is 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 and other USAMRDC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

Submission deadlines are not available until the Program Announcements are released. For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org. For more information about the ALSRP 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


Last updated Thursday, December 5, 2024