NEWS RELEASE

Released: March 6, 2023

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program (JWMRP)
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23)

The FY23 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding for the JWMRP to augment and accelerate progress toward critical Department of Defense (DOD) medical capability gaps and requirements through the continuation of research and development initiatives that were previously supported by DOD core and/or DOD congressionally directed funding and that are close to achieving their objectives and yielding a benefit to military medicine. Funds shall be awarded following a review of military medical research and development gaps, as well as unfinanced medical requirements of the Services. The managing agent for the anticipated funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The JWMRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY23 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY23 JWMRP 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 FY23 JWMRP must address at least one of the following Focus Areas listed under the categories below:

• Endemic and Emerging Disease Threats (we will not solicit proposals for malaria or COVID): Interested in proposals in the late pre-clinical or early clinical stage of development, preferentially with initial pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity data.
• Preventative and therapeutic measures for endemic and emerging infectious diseases.
• Preventative and therapeutic measures for combat-associated wound infections in austere, prolonged field care, and large-scale combat environments.
• Capabilities to support conducting real-time research during the response to an emerging infectious disease outbreak with a focus on (1) identification and characterization of emerging biothreats and (2) development of pan-pathogen response tools to improve response and recovery times.
• Operational Medicine and Readiness
  • Research aimed toward injury prevention, rapid return-to-duty capabilities, and rehabilitation solutions to maintain Service Member readiness (musculoskeletal and neurosensory).
  • Portable neuromodulation devices that effectively treat behavioral health conditions, including sleep disorders, and alleviate their common comorbidities (e.g., insomnia, pain).
  • Criteria and injury prediction models for ballistic/blast and/or accelerative events from loading regimes seen with current and likely future weapons systems, with the goal of informing the development of more effective personal protective equipment.
  • Innovative strategies and technologies that may include medical devices, pharmaceuticals, rehabilitation strategies, and regenerative medicine-based approaches to prevent, assess, diagnose, treat, restore, maintain, and/or rehabilitate sensory system (vision, hearing, and balance) function due to combat-related sensory injuries.
• Environmental Medicine
• Countermeasures to prevent injury/illness and enhance Service Member performance in extreme cold (Arctic) conditions.
• Solutions to enhance the provision of combat casualty care (including tactical combat casualty care, en route care, and damage control surgery) in extreme cold weather environments.
• Combat Casualty Care
• Modernized combat casualty care capabilities that can deliver life-saving care at the point of injury, enable prolonged casualty care, provide advanced resuscitative and damage control surgical care, and long-distance en route care consistent with the demands of an all-domain battlespace against a near-peer competitor:
• Novel solutions for hemorrhage control and resuscitation, including devices for non-compressible torso hemorrhage, drugs that extend the physiologic resuscitation window during hemorrhagic shock, and next-generation blood products and blood substitutes.
• Novel wound solutions for combat wounds, including severe burn and complex wound management.
• Intelligent imaging technologies that provide increased diagnostic capability in the forward operating environment, particularly those that can identify life-threatening hemorrhage or traumatic brain injury or facilitate early return to duty for less severe injuries.
• Tools that enhance medical decision-making capabilities and reduce cognitive burden on medical providers and Warfighters (e.g., artificial intelligence-based clinical decision support, augmented reality systems, procedural telementoring capabilities).
• Autonomous care and evacuation capabilities that augment the individual medic/Warfighter or system to increase the capability and capacity for casualty response.
• Solutions that improve the combat casualty care system’s ability to manage large numbers of casualties, including improved triage, medical regulating, medical documentation, and evacuation capabilities.
• Prophylactic medical countermeasures for ionizing radiation/nuclear injury.
• Validated training platforms for the acquisition and retention of knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned to wartime medical specialties of the operational force.