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Reconstructive Transplant

NEWS RELEASE

Released: April 28, 2023

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Reconstructive Transplant Research Program (RTRP)
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23)

The FY23 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the Reconstructive Transplant Research Program (RTRP) to support research of exceptional scientific merit to refine approaches for and increase access to reconstructive transplants and state-of-the-art immunotherapy. The managing agent for the anticipated funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The RTRP 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 RTRP 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 RTRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award or Idea Discovery Award must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

Improve or optimize vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) immunosuppression

  • Define the unique targets and/or mechanisms of VCA immunogenicity
  • Develop novel tolerogenic approaches for VCA immunosuppression
  • Develop less toxic and/or personalized regimens for maintenance immunosuppression

Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers, methods, or tools for monitoring VCA immunosuppression or rejection, including applications that would be suitable for point-of-care testing or home monitoring

  • Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive biomarkers for monitoring acute and chronic VCA graft rejection in the clinic.
  • Develop assays or devices for clinical graft monitoring utilizing validated biomarkers. Proposed devices should consider human use factors unique to VCA recipients.
  • Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive approaches to measuring immunosuppression.

Applications submitted to the FY23 RTRP Advanced Technology Development Award must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

Advance existing tissue preservation strategies to extend the timeline between procurement and transplantation

  • Develop promising biopreservation approaches and technologies for translation to the clinic.
  • Develop mitigation strategies for immune activation resulting from ischemia reperfusion injury in VCA.

Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers, methods, or tools for monitoring VCA immunosuppression or rejection, including applications that would be suitable for point-of-care testing or home monitoring

  • Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive biomarkers for monitoring acute and chronic VCA graft rejection in the clinic.
  • Develop assays or devices for clinical graft monitoring utilizing validated biomarkers. Proposed devices should consider human use factors unique to VCA recipients.
  • Identify and/or validate reliable non-invasive approaches to measuring immunosuppression.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Idea Discovery Award Independent investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (or equivalent)
  • Supports innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods.
  • Preproposal is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Applications must address at least one of the FY23 RTRP Idea Discovery Award Focus Areas.
  • Preliminary/published data that supports the rationale or evidence that the proposed work can be completed is required.
  • Project should include a well-formulated testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale and study design.
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 for total costs (direct plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years.
Investigator-Initiated Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Supports studies with the potential to make an important contribution to the reconstructive transplant research field, patient care, and/or quality of life.
  • Preproposal is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Applications must address at least one of the FY23 RTRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award Focus Areas.
  • Preliminary or published data are required.
  • Multiple Principal Investigator (PI) Option: Supports synergistic partnerships among two to four investigators collaborating on a single application.
Single PI:
  • Maximum funding of $1 million (M) for total costs (direct plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Multiple PI Option:
  • Maximum total funding of $1.5M for total costs (direct plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Advanced Technology Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Supports research critical for the translation of promising preclinical findings into products focused on reconstructive transplantation.
  • Preproposal is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Applications must address at least one of the FY23 RTRP Advanced Technology Development Award Focus Areas.
  • Preliminary or published data are required.
  • Proof of concept demonstrating potential utility of the proposed product must already be established.
  • Multiple (PI) Option: Supports synergistic partnerships among two to four investigators collaborating on a single application; multi-institutional collaborations are encouraged.
  • Transition Plan required.
 Single PI:
  • Maximum funding of $1M for total costs (direct plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Multiple PI Option:
  • Maximum total funding of $1.5M for total costs (direct plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) 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 announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage. For more information about the RTRP 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@health.mil


Last updated Friday, April 28, 2023