Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)

How to Apply: 

Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program

Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)

 

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act is providing funding to the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program (NFRP) to support innovative, high-impact NF research.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

 

FY20 NFRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website

 

Areas of Emphasis: The NFRP encourages applications that specifically address the critical needs of the NF community in one or more of the FY20 Areas of Emphasis.  Not all Areas of Emphasis are applicable to each award mechanism offered by the FY20 NFRP.  If the proposed research project does not address one of the FY20 Areas of Emphasis, justification that the proposed research project addresses an important problem related to NF research and/or patient care should be provided. Applications submitted to the FY20 NFRP must address one or more of the following Areas of Emphasis:

 

  • Biomarker discovery, utility, development, and validation
  • Non-tumor manifestations not limited to:

o  Pain

o  Cognitive Manifestations

o  Sleep

  • Heterogeneity of NF-related tumors
  • Novel disease and treatment response markers using genetics, genomics, epigenetics, systems biology, metabolomics, or similar approaches
  • Preclinical efficacy studies
  • Target identification, drug discovery
  • Nutritional, environmental, and other modifiers of NF
  • Health services research

 

https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/nfrp

 

Clinical Trial Award – Letter of Intent due June 25, 2020

Must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

  • Supports research with the potential to have a major impact on the treatment or management of neurofibromatosis (NF).
  • Funds Phase 0, I, or II clinical trials relevant to NF and/or schwannomatosis.  Combinations of phases are permitted.
  • Must support a clinical trial and may not be used for preclinical research studies.
  • The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $800,000 in direct costs ($1,000,000 in direct costs if requesting the Qualified Collaborator Option)
  • Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
  • The maximum period of performance is years

 

Exploration – Hypothesis Development Award – Letter of Intent due June 25, 2020

Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

  • Supports the initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high-gain concepts and potentially groundbreaking concepts in NF research.
  • Preliminary and/or published data is encouraged but not required.
  • Projects involving human subjects or human anatomical substances must be exempt under 32 CFR 219.104(d) or eligible for expedited review under 32 CFR 219.110 or 21 CFR 56.110.
  • Clinical trials not allowed.
  • The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $100,000 for direct costs.
  • Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
  • The maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

New Investigator Award – Letter of Intent due June 25, 2020

Must be either:

An independent investigator at or below the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) and must plan to commit at least 30% of his/her effort toward the proposed research project;

Or

An established independent investigator in an area other than NF at or above the level of Assistant Professor seeking to transition into a career in NF research and must plan to commit at least 10% of his/her effort toward the proposed research project.

To be eligible, applicants may not have received more than $300,000 in direct costs for NF research as a Principal Investigator of one or more Federally funded, non-mentored peer reviewed grants.

  • Supports the continued development of promising independent investigators and/or the transition of established investigators from other research fields into a career in NF research.
  • Prior experience in NF research is not required.
  • Preliminary and/or published data relevant to NF and the proposed data research project is required.
  • Clinical trials not allowed
    • The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $450,000 in direct costs.
    • Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
    • The maximum period of performance is 3 years

 

Early Investigator Research Award – Letter of Intent due June 25, 2020

The investigator must:

Be involved in a postdoctoral training or medical residency programs, and

Possess at least 1 and up to 4 years of continuous postdoctoral research experience by the Early Investigator Research Award application submission deadline: and

Possess a doctoral degree (i.e., Ph.D, M.D./Ph.D, D.O./Ph.D) or a clinical doctoral degrees (i.e., M.D./D.O. or Ph.D. in a clinical discipline) from an accredited organization or program.

  • Supports NF-focused research opportunities for individuals in the early stages of their careers.
  • Investigators must have a designated mentor who is an experienced NF researcher.
    • The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $200,000 in direct costs.
    • Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
    • The maximum period of performance is 2 years

 

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic 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. 

 

For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org.  For more information about the NFRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

 

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk
301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org

External Deadline: 
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Funding Source: 
External
Funding Level: 
Research