DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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Hearing Restoration

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 19, 2025

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Hearing Restoration Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25)

The FY25 Defense Appropriations Bill has not been signed into law. The CDMRP is unable to release new funding opportunities under the current Continuing Resolution. The CDMRP is providing pre-announcement information to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to anticipated funding opportunities should the CDMRP receive FY25 appropriations. Pre-announcements should not be construed as an obligation or promise by the government. Once funding is available, CDMRP funding opportunities will be posted on the Grants.gov website. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when opportunities are released, contingent upon future funding.

The FY25 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding for the Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) to support impactful research to reduce the burden of hearing loss on Service Members, Veterans, and the American public. The CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) is the program office managing these anticipated FY25 funding opportunities.

Applications submitted to the FY25 HRRP must address one or more of the following focus areas:

  • Improve and accelerate the translation of biological regeneration/repair mechanisms into clinical applications. Research addressing the damage, repair, and regeneration of the auditory system after military-relevant injuries is strongly encouraged.
  • Develop diagnostic tests that differentiate sensory, neural, synaptic, and central processing disorders that may inform applicability and outcomes for current or future hearing restoration therapeutics.
  • Develop reliable in-vitro human models to facilitate the understanding, derivation, and characterization of human auditory cells and/or to facilitate the evaluation of hearing restoration therapies.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Focused Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent) are eligible to be named by the recipient organization as Principal Investigator (PI) on the applications.
  • Submission of a pre-application in the form of a Letter of Intent (LOI) is required prior to full application submission.
    • LOIs are used for program planning purposes only (e.g., reviewer recruitment) and will not be reviewed during either the peer or programmatic review sessions.
    • An invitation to submit a full application is not required.
  • Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/high-reward research in the earliest stages of development.
    • Research must have the potential to yield new avenues of investigation, such as new approaches, new research tools, or new paradigms.
    • While preliminary data are not required, applications must provide solid rationale of the research idea, and the investigating team must have sufficient expertise to test the idea.
  • Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research toward clinical translation.
    • Applications may focus on any phase of research from basic through translational.
    • Preliminary data supporting the readiness and feasibility of the proposed research are required.
    • (NEW FOR FY25) Partnering PI Option:
      • Initiating PI: Submits the pre-application (LOI) and a full application package.
      • Partnering PI: Submits an abbreviated full application package.
      • Both PIs should contribute significantly to the development and execution of the proposed research project.
      • If recommended for funding, each PI will be named on separate awards to the recipient organization(s).
 Funding Level 1:
  • Maximum funding of $250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years
Funding Level 2:
  • Maximum funding of $750,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
(NEW FOR FY25)
Expansion Award
  • Investigators who have previously served as PI for a project awarded via one of FY17-FY24 HRRP funding opportunities are eligible to be named as PI, or Initiating PI, if using the Partnering PI Option
  • Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent) are eligible to be named as Partnering PI
  • Submission of a pre-application in the form of a LOI is required prior to full application submission.
  • Support the continued investigation and further development of highly impactful research projects that were previously awarded via an HRRP funding opportunity.
  • Can only be used to support translational studies that incorporate the application of diagnostic tools/methods that differentiate sensory, neural, synaptic, and central processing disorders into the testing of potential therapeutics.
    • The research team must have expertise and track record in BOTH developing diagnostic tools/methods and developing therapeutics.
    • Collaboration between investigators specializing in developing diagnostic tools/methods and investigators specializing in developing therapeutics is strongly encouraged.
  • Applicants must consider the clinical feasibility of the diagnostic tools/methods when designing the study.
  • Partnering PI Option is available for Expansion Award applications.
  • May be used to support translational preclinical studies or a Pilot Clinical Trial (PCT).
    • The purpose of a PCT is to inform the feasibility, rationale, and design of subsequent clinical trials through limited clinical testing of a novel intervention.
    • May NOT be used to support a full-scale clinical trial (e.g., clinical trials that are designed to determine safety or efficacy).
    • May be used to support the collection of data from an externally supported, on-going, clinical trial.
  • Maximum funding of $1,000,000 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 HRRP or other CPMRP-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 Wednesday, February 19, 2025