DoD Vision Research Program Funding Opportunities
The FY22 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the Vision Research Program (VRP) to support impactful military-relevant vision research. The managing agent for the anticipated funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).
The FY22 VRP program announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.
Applications submitted to the FY22 VRP must address one or more of the following Focus Areas:
- Eye injury or visual dysfunction as related to military exposure. Examples of military exposure may include, but are not limited to:
o Blast, penetrating, blunt, thermal, or chemical trauma
o Directed energy weapons such as laser, high-power microwaves, particle beams and ionizing radiation
- Diagnosis, stabilization, and treatment of eye injuries in austere environments and prolonged field care settings
- Restoration of visual function after military exposure-related vision loss or severe visual impairment
Clinical Trial Award (CTA) – Preproposal due July 15, 2022
- · The overall lead Principal Investigator (PI) must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent) with demonstrated success in leading large collaborative research project(s).
- · The overall lead PI must devote a minimum of 20% effort.
- · Leaders of individual projects may be independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
Each project leader, including the overall lead PI, may lead no more than one project.
- · Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
- · Supports studies that will yield highly impactful discoveries or major advancements in research and/or patient care.
- · Research must address one or more of the FY22 VRP Focus Areas.
- · Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/
high-reward research in the earliest stages of development.
o Research must have the potential to yield new avenues of investigation, such as new approaches, new research tools, or new paradigms.
o While preliminary data are not required, applicants must provide solid rationale of the research idea.
o The investigating team must have sufficient expertise to test the idea.
- · Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research that has the potential to make significant advancements toward clinical translation.
o Preliminary data supporting the readiness and feasibility of the proposed research are required.
- · PI is responsible for selecting the funding level that is most appropriate for the research proposed. The funding level should be selected based on the stage of the research project, rather than the amount of the budget.
Clinical trials are not allowed.
Funding Level 1:
- · The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $260,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
- · The maximum period of performance is 2 years.
Funding Level 2:
- · The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $750,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
The maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Investigator-Initiated Research Award (IIRA) – Preproposal due July 15, 2022
Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
- · Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
- · Supports studies that will yield highly impactful discoveries or major advancements in research and/or patient care.
- · Research must address one or more of the FY22 VRP Focus Areas.
- · Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/
high-reward research in the earliest stages of development.
o Research must have the potential to yield new avenues of investigation, such as new approaches, new research tools, or new paradigms.
o While preliminary data are not required, applicants must provide solid rationale of the research idea.
o The investigating team must have sufficient expertise to test the idea.
- · Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research that has the potential to make significant advancements toward clinical translation.
o Preliminary data supporting the readiness and feasibility of the proposed research are required.
- · PI is responsible for selecting the funding level that is most appropriate for the research proposed. The funding level should be selected based on the stage of the research project, rather than the amount of the budget.
- · Clinical trials are not allowed.
Funding Level 1:
- · The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $260,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
- · The maximum period of performance is 2 years.
Funding Level 2:
- · The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $750,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
- · The maximum period of performance is 3 years.
Translational Research Award (TRA) – Preproposal due July 15, 2022
Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
- · Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.
- · Supports translational research that moves promising laboratory research into clinical applications.
- · Research must address one or more of the FY22 VRP Focus Areas.
- · It is expected that an IND or IDE application will be submitted during or by the end of the period of performance.
- · Preliminary data are required.
- · May include, as a portion of the proposed research, a pilot clinical trial component that collects preliminary data to inform the feasibility, rationale, and design of subsequent clinical trials.
- · The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
- · The maximum period of performance is 3 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 funding opportunity announcements 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.
For email notification when 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 VRP 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
For more information, please contact Jill Sherman, International Research Facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.