USA Flag An official website of the United States government
Official websites use .mil
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of War organization.
Secure .mil websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
DEPARTMENT OF WAR - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
  1. Home
  2. Research Programs
  3. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
  4. Research Highlights/News
  5. 2026 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

NEWS RELEASE

Released: March 17, 2026

Defense Health Agency Research and Development
Medical Research and Development Command
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2026

The FY26 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the DMDRP to support innovative, high-impact research with clinical relevance that will preserve and improve the function and quality of life across the lifespan of all individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As part of the DHA R&D-MRDC, the CDMRP is the program office managing these anticipated FY26 funding opportunities.

The DMDRP provides the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY26 funding opportunities. Investigators should not construe this pre-announcement as an obligation or promise by the government. The CDMRP will post FY26 DMDRP funding opportunity announcements on the Grants.gov website. Once released, the funding opportunity announcements will include pre-application and application deadlines.

Applications submitted to the FY26 DMDRP Idea Development Award must address opportunities and challenges in the development of safe and effective macromolecular and cellular therapies that focus on the primary pathology of DMD. Therapies that will be efficacious across the lifespan, including infants, toddlers, and non-ambulatory individuals are strongly encouraged.

Applications submitted to the FY26 DMDRP Clinical/Translational Research Award must address at least one of the following focus areas:

For applications proposing preclinical translational research

  • Extension or expansion of existing preclinical data in support of Investigational New Drug (IND) application-enabling studies

For applications proposing clinical research

  • Prospective, real world data, or post-market studies for combination or sequential therapies and/or long-term safety and efficacy studies
  • Clinical studies designed to improve care and quality of life
  • Assessment of clinical trial tools and outcome measures across the lifespan
  • Natural history studies in understudied systems or understudied age groups with an aim toward clinical trial readiness

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Idea Development Award Established Investigators: Independent investigators at all academic levels, or equivalent
New Investigators – Early Stage: Independent investigators that, by the application submission deadline date:
  • Have not previously received a DMDRP Idea Development Award.
  • Are within 10 years of first faculty appointment, or equivalent.
New Investigator – Transitioning: Established independent investigators at all academic levels, or equivalent, in an area other than muscular dystrophy seeking to transition to a career in DMD, thereby bringing their expertise to the field.

Investigators must pursue an active line of research in DMD and commit at least 10% of their efforts during each budget year toward the proposed DMD research project.
  • Supports the development of impactful, high-risk/high-reward ideas that advance the understanding of DMD and ultimately lead to improved outcomes.
  • Applications must address opportunities and challenges in the development of safe and effective macromolecular and cellular therapies that address primary pathology of DMD.
  • The DMDRP strongly encourages research projects investigating therapies efficacious across the lifespan.
  • Applications must include preliminary data.
  • Applications cannot support clinical trials or clinical trial aims.
  • Maximum allowable funding is $500,000 in total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years
Clinical/Translational Research Award Independent investigators at all academic levels, or equivalent.

Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option: The partnering PI must be:
  • An independent, early-career investigator within 10 years of their first faculty appointment by the time of application submission. Applications should explain lapses in research time or appointments in the biographical sketch.
    or
  • An established interdisciplinary PI from an area other than muscular dystrophy seeking to develop research in DMD, thereby bringing their expertise to the field.
  • Supports translational studies beyond the realm of basic research with the potential for near-term impact in clinical research or clinical application.
  • The DMDRP strongly encourages research projects investigating therapies that will be efficacious across the lifespan.
  • Applications must include preliminary data.
  • Applications can support clinical trials, including pilot clinical trials and clinical trial readiness studies.
  • Partnering PI Option: Supports meaningful and productive partnerships between two investigators, termed the initiating PI and partnering PI, collaborating on the proposed research project.

Each funding level describes a defined research scope:
  • Funding Level 1: Supports small-scale preclinical and/or clinical research to support clinical trial readiness. Pilot clinical trials are allowed.
  • Funding Level 2: Supports large, complex preclinical and/or clinical research, such as moving identified candidate(s) into IND-enabling studies. Pilot clinical trials are allowed.
 Funding Level 1:
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $910,000 in total costs*
    • Partnering PI Option: $1 million in total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
Funding Level 1:
  • Maximum allowable funding:
    • Single PI: $1.75M in total costs*
    • Partnering PI Option: $1.9M in total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
*Total costs include direct and indirect costs.

Before full application submission, the CDMRP requires submission of a pre-application through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal, eBRAP, prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final funding opportunity announcements available for downloading from Grants.gov. To obtain a listing of all CDMRP funding opportunities on the Grants.gov website, perform a basic search using CFDA number 12.420.

To receive email notifications upon release of funding opportunity announcements, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under "Email Subscriptions" on the eBRAP homepage. For more information about the DMDRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website.

Point of Contact:
CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-7071
dha.detrick.cdmrp.mbx.public-affairs@health.mil


Last updated Tuesday, March 17, 2026