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Spinal Cord Injury

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 15, 2023

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23)

The FY23 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) to support innovative, high-impact spinal cord injury (SCI) research. The managing agent for the anticipated 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 FY23 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY23 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 FY23 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 spinal cord injury (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

Early-Career Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option: For all FY23 SCIRP funding opportunities, the program anticipates continuing to offer an Early Career Partnering PI option in an effort to promote enhanced research capacity within the SCI field. This option is structured to accommodate two PIs who will work together on a single research project, but each will be named to separate individual awards within the recipient organization(s). Each PI is expected to bring distinct contributions to the application and should contribute significantly to the development and execution of the proposed research project. Applications that employ the Early Career Partnering PI option are subject to a larger direct cost maximum and may divide budgetary costs across the two awards as appropriate for their separate efforts towards the research project proposed.


Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Clinical Trial Award PI: Independent investigators at all career levels

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 the rapid implementation of clinical trials with the potential to have a significant impact on the treatment or management of spinal cord injury (SCI).
  • Proposed projects may range from small proof-of-concept trials to demonstrate feasibility or inform the design of more advanced trials, through large-scale trials to determine efficacy in relevant populations.
  • Alternative trial designs to traditional randomized clinical trials are allowed but should be appropriate to the objective of the trial.
  • Community Collaborations in Research: Applications are expected to name at least two community partners (e.g., SCI Lived Experience Consultant, representative of community-based organization) who will provide advice and consultation throughout the planning and implementation of the research project.
  • Preliminary data required for all clinical trial applications.
  • Allows for an Early-Career Partnering PI Option.
  • Maximum funding of $3.0 million (M) 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
**NEW for FY23**
Clinical Translation Research Award		 PI: Independent investigators at all career levels

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.
  • Supports high-impact and/or new/emerging clinical research that may not be ready for a full-scale clinical trial.
  • Allows for clinical research projects that may or may not meet the definition of a clinical trial.
  • Proposed research may consist entirely of a pilot clinical trial.
  • Applications must support clinical research and may not be used for animal research.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Community Collaborations in Research: Applications are expected to name at least two community partners (e.g., SCI Lived Experience Consultant, representative of community-based organization) who will provide advice and consultation throughout the planning and implementation of the research project.
  • Allows for an 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
Translational Research Award PI: Independent investigators at all career levels

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 studies that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications.
  • Applications may include preclinical animal studies (except where otherwise specified) and/or clinical research involving human subjects and human anatomical substances.
  • 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.
  • Community Collaborations in Research: Applications are expected to name at least one community partner (e.g., SCI Lived Experience Consultant, representative of community-based organization) who will provide advice and consultation throughout the planning and implementation of the research project.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Allows for an 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: Independent investigators at all career levels

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.
  • Funds research that has the potential to make an important contribution to SCI research, patient care, and/or quality of life.
  • Permitted research includes preclinical studies in animal models (except where otherwise specified), research with human subjects, or human anatomical substances, as well as ancillary studies associated with an existing clinical trial.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Studies focused exclusively on target identification are discouraged.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Allows for an 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 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 SCIRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

†Detailed FY23 SCIRP Focus Areas

Applications submitted to the FY23 SCIRP must address one or more of the following Focus Areas:

  • 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.
    • 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.
    • To be responsive to this Focus Area, psychosocial issues must be the primary focus of the research.

  • 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@health.mil


Last updated Wednesday, February 15, 2023