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DEPARTMENT OF WAR - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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  5. 2026 Lung Cancer Research Program

Lung Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 26, 2026

Defense Health Agency Research and Development
Medical Research and Development Command
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
Lung Cancer Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2026

The FY26 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the LCRP to support innovative, high-impact research with clinical relevance that will eradicate deaths and suffering from lung cancer to better the health and welfare of Service Members, Veterans and the general public. As part of the DHA R&D-MRDC, the CDMRP is the program office managing these anticipated FY26 funding opportunities.

The LCRP 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 LCRP 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 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 quality of life for patients and families
    • Identify and understand impact of comorbidities on survivorship care in all stages of lung cancer
    • Reduce differences among high-risk groups and populations

Relevance to Military Health: The LCRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the healthcare needs of Service Members, Veterans and their Families. The LCRP strongly encourages investigators 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 with a direct or unique relevance 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
Idea Development Award Established Investigators:
Independent investigators at any career level

Or

New Investigators:
Investigators must meet the following criteria by the application submission deadline:
  • Never 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 and in the process of developing independent research careers.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Relevance to military health strongly encouraged.
  • Clinical trials not allowed.
  • The LCRP requires submission of a preproposal; application submission by invitation only.
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
  • Maximum allowable funding is $800,000 for total costs*
Translational Research Award Independent investigators at any career level
  • Supports advanced translational research that will foster transformation of promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications. Translational research may include integration of basic science and clinical observations. The following general descriptions, although not all-inclusive, summarize 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 associated with an open/ongoing or completed clinical trial
    • Projects that develop endpoints for clinical trials
  • Preliminary lung cancer relevant data required.
  • Relevance to military health strongly encouraged.
  • Funding Level 1: Clinical trials not allowed.
  • Funding Level 2 - Clinical Trial Option: Supports translational studies that include a pilot/proof-of-principle clinical trial.
  • The LCRP requires submission of a preproposal; application submission by invitation only.
 Funding Level 1
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
  • Maximum allowable funding is $1.35 million for total costs*
Funding Level 2 - Clinical Trial Option
  • Maximum period of performance is 4 years
  • Maximum allowable funding is $1.85M for total costs*
Patient-Centered Outcomes and Survivorship Award Independent investigators at any career level
  • Supports high-reward studies that span the spectrum of survivorship and health outcomes/comparative effectiveness research, including quality of life, symptom and side effect management, resilience, and co-morbid conditions.
  • Must address at least one Area of Emphasis in the Health Outcomes and Survivorship category.
  • Preliminary data required.
  • Inclusion of an advocate who is a lung cancer patient/survivor or caregiver required.
  • Pilot clinical trials allowed.
  • Relevance to military health strongly encouraged.
  • The LCRP requires submission of a letter of intent prior to full application submission.
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
  • Maximum allowable funding is $975,000 for total costs*
*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 LCRP 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 Thursday, February 26, 2026