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Spinal Cord Injury

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 10, 2022

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22)

The FY22 Defense Appropriations Bill has not been signed into law. Although FY22 funds have not been appropriated for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP), the SCIRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY22 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the Government.

The FY22 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding for the SCIRP to support innovative, high-impact spinal cord injury (SCI) research.1  The managing agent for the anticipated program announcements/funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The SCIRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY22 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY22 SCIRP funding opportunity announcements for the following award mechanisms will be posted on the Grants.gov website. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the announcements are released.

Applications submitted to the FY22 SCIRP must address one or more of the following Focus Areas�:

  • Preserving and protecting spinal cord tissue at time of injury for improved neurologic outcomes
  • Identifying and validating biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and for evaluation of treatment efficacies
  • Developing, testing, and validating promising interventions to address bowel, genitourinary, neuropathic pain, cardiopulmonary, or autonomic dysfunction in people with SCI
  • Investigating psychosocial issues relevant to people with SCI, their families, and/or their care-partners
  • Rehabilitation and regeneration�maximizing the function of the residual neural circuitry, including harnessing neuroplasticity and recovery to improve function after SCI

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Trial Award Principal Investigator (PI): Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Optional Early-Career Partnering PI:
An independent, early-career investigator within 10 years after completion of terminal degree
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Funds Phase 0, I, or II clinical trials with the potential to have a major impact on treatment or management of SCI and its consequences.
  • Alternative study designs to traditional randomized clinical trials are allowed but should be appropriate to the objective of the trial.
  • Community Collaborations in Research: Applications must include at least two individuals with lived SCI experience as members of the research team.
  • Preliminary data required for all clinical trial applications.
  • Early-Career Partnering PI Option
  • Maximum funding of $3.0M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years

      Early-Career Partnering PI Option:
  • Maximum funding of $3.1M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
Translational Research Award PI: Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Optional Early-Career Partnering PI:
An independent, early-career investigator within 10 years after completion of terminal degree
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Fund studies that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications.
  • Community Collaborations in Research: Applications must include at least one individual with lived SCI experience as a member of the research team.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • The SCIRP Translational Research Award may include a pilot clinical trial ONLY as a part of the proposed research where limited clinical testing of a novel intervention or device is necessary to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research.
  • Early-Career Partnering PI Option
  • Maximum funding of $1.25M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years

      Early-Career Partnering PI Option:
  • Maximum funding of $1.35M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
Investigator-Initiated Research Award PI: Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

Optional Early-Career Partnering PI:
An independent, early-career investigator within 10 years after completion of his/her terminal degree
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Fund SCI-related research that has the potential to make an important contribution to SCI research, patient care, and/or quality of life.
  • Studies focused exclusively on target identification are discouraged.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Early-Career Partnering PI Option
  • Maximum funding of $0.50M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years

      Early-Career Partnering PI Option:
  • Maximum funding of $0.60M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 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 funding opportunity announcements that will be available for 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 funding opportunity 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 SCIRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

�Detailed FY22 SCIRP Focus Areas

Applications submitted to the FY22 SCIRP must address one or more of the following Focus Areas:

  • **Updated FY22** Investigating psychosocial issues relevant to people with SCI, their families, and/or their care-partners
    • Applications should directly address, or show clear relevance to, the needs of Service members and Veterans.
    • To be responsive to this Focus Area, psychosocial issues MUST be the primary focus of the research.
    • Projects should provide an understanding of critical factors promoting psychosocial well-being leading to implementation of potential treatments and interventions.
    • Studies addressing social isolation, loneliness, and depression, as well as resilience, self-efficacy, sexuality and intimacy, and interactions between people living with SCI and their care-partners, are especially encouraged.
    • Preclinical animal studies are not responsive to this Focus Area.

  • **Updated FY22** Developing, testing, and validating promising interventions to address bowel, genitourinary, neuropathic pain, cardiopulmonary, or autonomic dysfunction in people with SCI
    • Mechanism-focused studies must be specific to SCI and demonstrate a clear path from increased understanding to advancing treatments.
    • Studies addressing the needs of and treatments for individuals with SCI across the full lifespan from acute to chronic injury are encouraged.

  • Preserving and protecting spinal cord tissue at time of injury for improved neurologic outcomes
    • Responsive projects may include surgical and acute care management of SCI.
    • Therapeutics (devices and pharmacologic interventions) to stabilize SCI in the pre-hospital environment and during transport are encouraged.
    • Applications proposing neuroprotective interventions need to demonstrate a clinically feasible window for treatment and more than an incremental improvement over existing therapies.

  • Identifying and validating biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and for evaluation of treatment efficacies
    • Biomarkers must focus on diagnosis, prognosis, progression, and/or recovery of SCI.
    • Projects with a clear link between a biomarker and underlying physiology are encouraged. Projects can include imaging and other modalities.
    • Applications should demonstrate a clear path to clinical use.
    • Biomarker studies directed at identifying the best single or combination of treatments for individuals (personalized medicine) are encouraged.

  • Rehabilitation and regeneration�maximizing the function of the residual neural circuitry, including harnessing neuroplasticity and recovery to improve function after SCI
    • Studies that address critical questions of dosing, targeting, or safety required to move the research toward clinical use are supported.
    • Applications studying mechanisms of regeneration or identifying novel therapeutic targets must include a feasible projected pathway for translation and clinical implementation.
    • Basic research projects designed to understand general mechanisms underlying axonal sprouting, regeneration, or neuroplasticity are discouraged unless they directly address translatable approaches.

Point of Contact:

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

1 Funding is provided through the FY22 appropriation for Peer-reviewed Spinal Cord Research


Last updated Thursday, December 5, 2024