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DEPARTMENT OF WAR - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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Pancreatic Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 12, 2026

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

The FY26 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the PCARP to support research of exceptional scientific merit and innovation with high impact that focuses on pancreatic cancer. As part of the DHA R&D-MRDC, the CDMRP is the program office managing these anticipated FY26 funding opportunities.

The PCARP 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 PCARP funding opportunity announcements on the Grants.gov website. Once released, the funding opportunity announcement will include pre-application and application deadlines.

Applications submitted to the FY26 PCARP must address one or more of the following focus areas:

  • Early detection research
  • Identification and characterization of risk
  • Supportive care interventions, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and perspectives during diagnosis, treatment and survivorship
  • Understanding and reducing barriers to healthcare access and care delivery
  • Understanding metabolic disruptions and their systemic effects, including diabetes and cachexia
  • Understanding tumor development from precursors to metastasis
  • Biomarkers to predict therapeutic response and guide management strategies
  • New therapeutic targets and approaches

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Focused Pilot Award Investigators at any career level, including postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows and equivalent
  • Supports the exploration and development of impactful and innovative concepts under two patient-centered focus areas that could ultimately lead to major advancements that will have a profound effect on patients’ overall quality of life.
  • Applications must address one of the following two FY26 focus areas:
    • Supportive care interventions, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and perspectives during diagnosis, treatment and survivorship
    • Understanding and reducing barriers to healthcare access and care delivery
  • Applications do not require preliminary data.
  • Applications cannot support basic research, pre-clinical animal studies or clinical trials.
  • The PCARP requires submission of a letter of intent prior to full application submission.
  • Maximum funding is $300,000 for total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years
Idea Development Award Independent investigators at any career level
or
Partnering Principal Investigator Option for Early-Career Investigator:
Independent investigators at any career level, termed the initiating PI, may collaborate on a single application with an early-career investigator, termed the partnering PI.
  • Early-career investigators are individuals who, as of the application submission deadline, are within eight years of first faculty appointment, i.e., instructor or above, or equivalent, excluding time spent on family medical leave.
  • Supports the development of innovative, high-risk/high-reward research that could lead to critical discoveries or major advancements that will accelerate progress in improving outcomes for individuals with pancreatic cancer.
  • Applications must address at least one of the FY26 PCARP focus areas.
  • Applications must include preliminary data.
  • Applications cannot support clinical trials.
  • Partnering PI Option for Early-Career Investigator supports applications that propose to partner an experienced PI with an early-career investigator who wishes to pursue a career in pancreatic cancer research.
  • The PCARP requires submission of a preproposal; application submission by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding is $700,000 for total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
Partnering PI Option for Early-Career Investigator:
  • Maximum funding is $950,000 for total costs*
    • Applications require justification if the budget requests more than 50% of funds for the initiating PI.
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 years
Translational Research Partnership Award Independent investigators at any career level

At least one member of the partnership must demonstrate expertise either in pancreatic cancer research or pancreatic cancer patient care.

Postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and equivalent are not eligible.
  • Supports partnerships between clinicians, population scientists, applied scientists and/or basic scientists that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in pancreatic cancer toward clinical applications.
  • Applications must address at least one of the FY26 PCARP focus areas.
  • Applications must include preliminary data.
  • Retrospective tissue analysis, correlative studies and small pilot clinical trials are allowed.
  • The PCARP requires submission of a preproposal; application submission by invitation only.
  • Maximum funding is $1.1 million for total costs*
  • Maximum period of performance is 3 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 PCARP 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, February 17, 2026