DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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Lung Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Released: January 17, 2025

Department of Defense
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Lung Cancer 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 Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) to support innovative, high-impact lung cancer research. 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 LCRP must address one or more of the following areas of emphasis:

  • Biology and Etiology
    • Understand the molecular mechanisms of initiation and progression of pre-malignancy to lung cancer
    • Understand contributors to lung cancer development other than tobacco, including hereditary and sex-specific differences
    • Understand the biology of metastatic/oligometastatic disease progression
  • Prevention and Risk Reduction
    • Identify innovative strategies for prevention and/or interception of lung cancer development
    • Identify innovative strategies for the prevention of recurrence or metastases from lung cancer
  • Detection, Diagnosis, and Surveillance
    • Improve and expand approaches to screening and early detection of lung cancer
    • Identify strategies for prompt detection and/or characterization of progressive disease
  • Treatment and Prognosis
    • Identify innovative strategies for the treatment of lung cancer, including overcoming resistance
    • Develop or optimize biomarkers to assist with therapeutic decision-making
    • Enhance the understanding, detection, and treatment of brain and leptomeningeal metastases in lung cancer
  • Health Outcomes and Survivorship
    • Identify and understand the long-term and cumulative effects of lung cancer and its treatment(s) on patients, families, and support systems with respect to the impact on quality of life including, but not limited to, physiological, psychosocial, cognitive, and financial effects
    • Identify and understand impact of comorbidities on survivorship care in all stages of lung cancer
  • Disparities
    • Advance equity and reduce lung cancer disparities among underserved, minoritized and underrepresented populations

Relevance to Military Health: The LCRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service Members, Veterans and their families. Relevance to military health will be considered in determining relevance to the mission of the Defense Health Program and FY25 LCRP during programmatic review. Investigators are strongly encouraged to consider the following characteristics as examples of how a project may demonstrate relevance to military health:

  • Use of military or Veteran populations, biospecimens, data/databases, or programs in the proposed research
  • Collaboration with DOD or Department of Veterans Affairs investigators
  • Explanation of how the project addresses an aspect of lung cancer that has a direct relevance or is unique to the military, Veterans, other military health system beneficiaries, or Family readiness of Service Members, including environmental exposures other than tobacco

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Concept Award Investigators at all academic levels
  • Supports highly innovative, non-incremental, high risk/potentially high-reward lung cancer research
  • Emphasis on innovation
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.
  • Different application categories support research addressing specific Areas of Emphasis:
    • Care Delivery and Health Disparity:
      Applications must address one or more of the Disparities, Health Outcomes, and Survivorship Areas of Emphasis.
    • Cancer Research Continuum:
      Applications must address at least one or more of the ten cancer continuum-focused Areas of Emphasis.
  • Maximum funding of $120,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 1 year.
Career Development Award Principal Investigator: Independent investigators at the level of Assistant Professor, Instructor, or equivalent; must be within 5 years of first faculty appointment

Mentor: At or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent); have a proven publication and funding record in lung cancer research
  • Supports early-career, independent investigators to conduct research under mentorship of an experienced lung cancer researcher.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.
  • Maximum funding of $375,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Idea Development Award Established Investigators: Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

And

New Investigators: Investigators that meet the following criteria by the application submission deadline date:
  • Have not previously received an LCRP Idea Development Award
  • Are within 10 years of first faculty appointment (or equivalent)
  • Supports new ideas in the early stages of development representing innovative, high-risk/high-gain research.
  • Emphasis on innovation and impact.
  • New Investigator category supports researchers early in their faculty appointments or in the process of developing independent research careers.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed.
  • Preliminary data are required.
  • Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.
  • Maximum funding of $525,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Translational Research Award Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • Supports advanced translational research that will foster transformation of promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications. Translational research may be defined as an integration of basic science and clinical observations. The following are general descriptions, although not all-inclusive, of the scope of research projects supported by this award mechanism:
    • Advanced preclinical studies aimed at translating results from animal studies to applications with human samples/cohorts
    • Late-stage preclinical work leading to/preparing for a clinical trial, e.g., Investigational New Drug application submission
    • Correlative studies that are associated with an open/ongoing or completed clinical trial
    • Projects that develop endpoints for clinical trials
    • Pilot clinical trials where limited clinical testing (e.g., small sample size) of a novel intervention is necessary to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research
  • Preliminary lung cancer relevant data are required
  • Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged
  • Different research levels, based on the scope of the research, are available
    • Level 1: Clinical trials are not allowed
    • Level 2 - Clinical Trial Option: Supports translational studies that include a pilot/proof-of-principle clinical trial.
 Level 1
  • Maximum funding of $900,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Level 2 - Clinical Trial Option
  • Maximum funding of $1,200,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years.
Patient-Centered Outcomes and Survivorship Award Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • Supports high-reward studies that span the spectrum of behavioral health science, survivorship, and health outcomes/comparative effectiveness research, including quality of life, symptom and side effect management, resilience, and co-morbid conditions and examining the physical, psychological, social and economic effects of lung cancer
  • Must address at least one Area of Emphasis in the Disparities or Health Outcomes and Survivorship categories
  • Preliminary data are required
  • Inclusion of an advocate who is a lung cancer patient/survivor or caregiver is required
  • Pilot clinical trials are allowed
  • Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged
  • Maximum funding of $650,000 in 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 LCRP 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, January 17, 2025