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Chronic Pain Management

NEWS RELEASE

Released: April 1, 2021

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Chronic Pain Management Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21)

The FY21 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Chronic Pain Management Research Program (CPMRP) to support research of exceptional scientific merit with the potential to make a significant impact on improving the health and quality of life of Service members, Veterans, and all Americans living with chronic pain. Per the FY19 CPMRP Congressional appropriation, chronic pain is defined as a pain that occurs on at least half the days for six months or more, and which can be caused by issues including, but not limited to: combat- and training-related physical or mental stress and trauma, migraines and chronic headaches, traumatic brain injury, arthritis, muscular-skeletal conditions, neurological disease, tick and vector-borne disease, other insect-transmitted or tropical disease, and cancer. The CPMRP seeks to support and promote innovative, high-impact research to prevent the development and improve the management of chronic pain, with specific emphasis on the utilization and implementation of non-opioid therapies or non-addictive complementary methods. 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).

The CPMRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY21 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY21 CPMRP 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. 

Applications submitted to the FY21 CPMRP must address one or more of the following focus areas:

  • Clinical Exploration Award
    • Chronification of pain (i.e., the acute-to-chronic pain transition)
    • Effectiveness or observational studies of novel techniques/approaches/pathways to chronic pain management
  • Investigator Initiated Research Award
    • Chronification of pain (i.e., the acute-to-chronic pain transition)
    • Development of non-opioid therapies and methods for the treatment of chronic pain
    • Effectiveness or observational studies of novel or untested techniques/approaches/pathways to chronic pain management
  • Translational Research Award
    • Comparative effectiveness studies (for evidence-based, efficacious interventions to manage or prevent chronic pain)
    • Implementation science (for evidence-based, efficacious interventions to manage or prevent chronic pain)
    • Observational studies


Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Exploration Award (new for FY21) Independent Investigators at all levels.
  • Supports early-phase, proof-of-principle clinical trials and correlative studies.
  • Preliminary and/or published data is not required but the scientific rationale for the proposed study must be clearly articulated.
  • Should be relevant to active duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public.
  • Maximum funding of $250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years.
Investigator-Initiated Research Award Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
  • Emphasis on innovative and impactful research.
  • Must include preliminary and/or published data or clinical observations that originated from the research team that support the rationale for the proposed study.
  • Should be relevant to active duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public.
  • Multidisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.
  • Partnering PI Option available.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Maximum funding of $900,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years.
Translational Research Award Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
  • Supports acceleration of evidence-based ideas and research into clinical applications (e.g., healthcare products, technologies, practice guidelines, models of care).
  • Must include preliminary and/or published data collected by the research team that support the rationale for the proposed study.
  • Partnering PI Option available.
  • Animal studies are not allowed.
  • Maximum funding of $1,400,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 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 CPMRP 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