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Pancreatic Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Released: March 6, 2024

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Pancreatic Cancer Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24)

The FY24 Defense Appropriations Bill has not been signed into law. Although FY24 funds have not been appropriated for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Program (PCARP), the PCARP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY24 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.

The FY24 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding for the PCARP to support research of exceptional scientific merit and innovation with high impact that focuses on pancreatic cancer. The managing agent for the anticipated funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The PCARP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY24 funding opportunities. The FY24 PCARP 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 FY24 PCARP must address one or more of the following Focus Areas:

  • Early detection research for pancreatic cancer, including the prevalence in individuals with pre-diabetes and diabetes and/or those in underserved ethnic and minority communities
  • Supportive care interventions, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and perspectives during diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship
  • Barriers to the implementation of health care, including ways to overcome socioeconomic, geographic, or ethnic and racial disparities
  • Identification and characterization of pancreatic cancer risk including genetic and environmental risk factors, such as diet, obesity, and microbiome
  • Identification and characterization of pancreatic cancer risk including genetic and environmental risk factors, such as diet, obesity, and microbiome
  • Understanding tumor development and progression, from precursors to metastasis
  • Understanding the relationship between oncogenic signaling and the tumor microenvironment that drives drug resistance and therapeutic response
  • Biomarkers to predict therapeutic response and guide management strategies
  • New drug development targeted toward cancer sensitivity and resistance mechanisms including immune mechanisms of resistance

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Idea Development Award Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

or

Early-Career Investigator Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option:

Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) may collaborate on a single application with an early-career investigator that meets the following criteria at the application submission deadline date:
  • Must have instructor-level (or equivalent) faculty appointment or above.
  • Is no more than 10 years from the receipt of a terminal degree.
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports new ideas that represent innovative, high-risk/high-gain approaches to pancreatic cancer research and have the potential to make an important contribution to one or more of the FY23 PCARP Focus Areas.
  • Emphasis is equally placed on Innovation and Impact.
  • Preliminary data are encouraged, but not required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Must address at least one of the FY23 PCARP Focus Areas.

Early-Career Investigator Partnering PI Option supports applicants early in their faculty appointments or in the process of developing independent research careers.
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

Early-Career Investigator Partnering PI Option:

  • Maximum funding of $650,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Justification should be provided if greater than 50% of the total budget is requested for the initiating PI.
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Translational Research Partnership Award PIs must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent.

Clinicians must be an M.D., M.D./Ph.D., or equivalent with clinical duties and/or responsibilities.

Postdoctoral and clinical fellows are not eligible.

At least one member of the partnership must have expertise either in pancreatic cancer research or pancreatic cancer patient care.
  • Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports partnerships between clinicians and laboratory scientists that accelerate ideas in pancreatic cancer into clinical applications.
  • Must address at least one of the FY23 PCARP Focus Areas.
  • Supports translational correlative studies.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Retrospective tissue analysis, correlative studies, or small pilot clinical studies are permitted.
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Focused Pilot Award
 Applications can include investigators at all academic levels.

Postdoctoral and clinical fellows are eligible.
  • A letter of intent is required
  • Supports the exploration and development of impactful and innovative concepts under two patient-centered focus areas of pancreatic cancer research that could ultimately lead to major advancements that will have a profound effect on patients’ overall quality of life.
  • Research supported by this award should strive to produce robust preliminary data that can be used as a foundation for future clinical or real-world research application.
  • Preliminary data is allowed, but not required.
  • Basic research and pre-clinical animal studies do not meet the intent of the Focused Pilot Award mechanism.
  • Applications submitted must address one of the two FY24 Focus Areas:
    • Supportive care interventions, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and perspectives during diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship
    • Barriers to the implementation of health care, including ways to overcome socioeconomic, geographic, or ethnic and racial disparities
  • Maximum funding of $200,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic 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 PCARP 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 Monday, March 11, 2024