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Breast Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Released: April 1, 2025

Department of Defense
Defense Health Agency Research and Development -
Medical Research and Development Command
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Breast Cancer Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25)

The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 provides $650M in funding for the CDMRP. Congress provided further guidance for CDMRP program-level funding, including funding for the Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP). The FY25 BCRP intends to support innovative, high-impact research with clinical relevance that will accelerate progress to end breast cancer for Service Members and their Families, Veterans, and the general public. The CDMRP is part of the Defense Health Agency Research and Development at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) and is the program office managing these anticipated FY25 funding opportunities.

The BCRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY25 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY25 BCRP 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 FY25 BCRP must address one or more of the following overarching challenges:

  • Prevent breast cancer (primary prevention)
  • Identify determinants of breast cancer initiation, risk, or susceptibility
  • Distinguish deadly from non-deadly breast cancers
  • Conquer the problems of overdiagnosis and overtreatment
  • Identify what drives breast cancer growth; determine how to stop it
  • Identify why some breast cancers become metastatic
  • Determine why/how breast cancer cells lie dormant for years and then re-emerge; determine how to prevent lethal recurrence
  • Revolutionize treatment regimens by replacing them with ones that are more effective, less toxic, and impact survival
  • Eliminate the mortality associated with metastatic breast cancer

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Breakthrough Award Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Supports promising research that has high potential to lead to or make breakthroughs in breast cancer.
  • Potential impact of the research may be near-term or long-term, but it must move beyond a minor advancement and have the potential to lead to a fundamentally new strategy or approach for preventing or ending breast cancer that is significantly more effective than current strategies or approaches.
  • Partnering PI Option: Supports meaningful and productive partnerships between two investigators (termed the Initiating PI and Partnering PI) collaborating on a single application.
  • Three different funding levels available for FY25, based on the scope of research.
The following are key features and general descriptions, although not all-inclusive, of the scope of research projects that would be appropriate to propose under each funding level:
  • Funding Level 1: Innovative, high-risk/high-reward research that is in the earliest stages of idea development, or an untested theory that addresses an important problem. Proof of concept is the anticipated outcome. Preliminary data are not required. Clinical trials are not allowed. Each investigator may be named as a PI or Initiating PI on only one Funding Level 1 application. There is no limit on the number of applications for which an investigator may be named as a Partnering PI. Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
  • Funding Level 2: Research that is already supported by substantial preliminary or published data in breast cancer and strongly validates clinical translation in a well-defined context within the breast cancer landscape. Clinical trials are not allowed. Each investigator may be named as a PI or Initiating PI on only one Funding Level 2 application. There is no limit on the number of applications for which an investigator may be named as a Partnering PI. Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
    • Funding Level 2 - Population Science and Prevention Studies: Studies that focus on the analysis of human data and biospecimens.
  • Funding Level 3: Advanced translational studies. Where relevant, the proposed research must be supported by proof of availability of, and access to, necessary data, human samples, cohort(s), and/or critical reagents. If the proposed research will ultimately require U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or an equivalent international regulatory agency involvement, the project must be supported by demonstrated availability of, and access to, clinical reagents and subject population(s). A realistic timeline for near-term clinical research must be stated. Small-scale clinical trials may be appropriate. Applications must include two or more consumer advocates on the research team. There is no limit on the number of pre-applications for which an investigator may be named as a PI, Initiating PI, or Partnering PI. Submission of a preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
 Funding Level 1
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $540,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Partnering PI Option: $900,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Funding Level 2
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
  • Maximum period of performance for Funding Level 2 - Population Science and Prevention Studies Option is 4 years
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $1.2 million (M) for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Partnering PI Option: $1.8M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Population Science and Prevention Studies with Single PI: $1.8M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Population Science and Prevention Studies - Partnering PI Option: $2.4M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Funding Level 3
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $4M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Partnering PI Option: $5M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Era of Hope Scholar Award Independent, non-mentored investigators within six years of their last training position as of the application submission deadline (excluding time spent on family medical leave)
  • Supports exceptionally talented, early-career scientists who have demonstrated that they are the "best and brightest" in their fields through extraordinary creativity, vision, innovation and productivity.
  • PIs should articulate a vision that challenges current dogma and demonstrates an ability to look beyond tradition and convention.
  • PIs must demonstrate experience in forming effective partnerships and collaborations and exhibit strong potential for future leadership in breast cancer.
  • PIs are required to include two or more consumer advocates on their research team.
  • Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
  • Maximum funding of $3.5M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
Clinical Research Extension Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)
  • Supports research that extends or expands the data collection, follow-up, and analysis of breast cancer clinical research studies.
  • Intended to increase the clinically relevant impact of breast cancer patient participation in clinical research by addressing the knowledge lost due to early termination, limited patient follow-up, or suboptimal sample and/or data collection and analysis.
  • Although not all-inclusive, research proposed under this mechanism may entail a deeper molecular analysis of clinical samples, initiation of new correlative studies, biomarker validation, or continuing clinical follow-up of patients enrolled in an open/ongoing or completed clinical trial. The proposed research may be hypothesis-testing or -generating or may be designed to generate clinically annotated and molecularly characterized experimental platforms, including patient-derived models or tissue arrays. Projects proposing to conduct clinical trials will not be supported.
  • PIs are required to include two or more consumer advocates on their research team.
  • The Partnering PI Option allows two PIs, termed the Initiating PI and Partnering PI, to partner on a single application.
  • Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $5M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
    • Partnering PI Option: $6M for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

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 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 BCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

Point of Contact:
CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
dha.detrick.cdmrp.mbx.public-affairs@health.mil


Last updated Tuesday, April 1, 2025