The FY23 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for the Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) to support innovative, high-impact lung cancer research.  The managing agent for the anticipated funding opportunities is the CDMRP at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The FY23 LCRP funding opportunity announcements for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website. 

Applications submitted to the FY23 LCRP must address one or more of the following Areas of Emphasis:

• Biology and Etiology

o   Understand the molecular mechanisms of initiation and progression to lung cancer.

o   Understand contributors to lung cancer development other than tobacco.

• Prevention

o   Identify innovative strategies for prevention of the occurrence of lung cancer(s) or subsequent primaries.

o   Identify innovative strategies for the prevention of recurrence or metastases from lung cancer.

• Detection, Diagnosis, and Surveillance

o   Improve approaches to screening and early detection of lung cancer.

o   Identify strategies for prompt detection and/or characterization of progressive disease.

• Treatment and Prognosis

o   Identify innovative strategies for the treatment of lung cancer, including overcoming resistance.

o   Develop or optimize biomarkers to assist with therapeutic decision-making.

o   Enhance the treatment and understanding of brain metastases in lung cancer.

• Health Outcomes and Survivorship

o   Identify and understand the long-term and cumulative effects of lung cancer and its treatment(s) with respect to the impact of comorbidities on patient care and also, more broadly, in respect to their effects on patients and their quality of life including, but not limited to, physiological, psychosocial, cognitive, and financial effects.

• Disparities

o   Advance equity and reduce lung cancer disparities among underserved and underrepresented populations.

Relevance to Military Health:  The LCRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service Members, Veterans, and their families.  Relevance to military health will be considered in determining relevance to the mission of the Defense Health Program and FY23 LCRP during programmatic review.  Investigators are strongly encouraged 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 that has a direct relevance or is unique to the military, Veterans, other military health system beneficiaries, or family readiness of Service Members, including environmental exposures other than tobacco.

https://cdmrp.health.mil/funding/lcrp

Concept Award – Letter of Intent due May 2, 2023

Investigators at all academic levels

• ·      Supports highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking concepts in lung cancer.
• ·      Emphasis on innovative concept or untested theory.
• ·      Research involving human subjects or specimens must be either exempt under Title 32, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 219, Section 104(d) (32 CFR 219.104[d]) or eligible for expedited review (21 CFR 56.110).
• ·      Clinical trials are not allowed.
• ·      Preliminary data are not required.
• ·      Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.
• ·      Care Delivery and Health Disparity category must address one or more of the Disparities, Health Outcomes and Survivorship Areas of Emphasis.
• ·      Cancer Research Continuum category must address at least one or more of the nine cancer continuum-focused Areas of Emphasis.

Career Development Award – Letter of Intent due May 2, 2023

Principal Investigator (PI)

• Independent investigators at the level of Assistant Professor, Instructor, or equivalent; must be within 5 years of first faculty appointment (or equivalent).
• Must not have received a Career Development Award previously from any program within the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.
• Must not have received more than $300,000 in total direct costs for previous or concurrent lung cancer research as a PI of one or more federally or privately funded, non-mentored, peer-reviewed grants.

Mentor

• At or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent).
• Must have a strong publication and funding record in lung cancer research.
• Supports early-career, independent researchers to conduct research under the mentorship of an experienced lung cancer researcher.
• Emphasis on research with high potential impact.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• Career development plan is required with appropriate mentor guidance.
• Preliminary data are not required.
• Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged
• Maximum funding of $375,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• Period of performance not to exceed 3 years.

Idea Development Award – Preproposal due May 10, 2023

Established Investigators:  Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or

New Investigators:  Investigators must meet the following criteria by the application submission deadline date:

• ·        Have not 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 applicants early in their faculty appointments and in the process of developing independent research careers.
• ·     Clinical trials are not allowed.
• ·     Preliminary data are required.
• ·     Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.
  • ·      Maximum funding of $525,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
  • ·      Period of performance should not exceed 3 years.

Translational Research Award – Preproposal due May 10, 2023

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

• ·     Supports advanced translational research that will foster transformation of promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications.  Translational research may be defined as an integration of basic science and clinical observations.
• ·     This mechanism is intended to fund a broad range of translational studies with two different funding levels.  The following are general examples, although not all-inclusive, of the type of research projects that would be appropriate to propose under the current program announcement:
• ·      Funding Level 1:

o   Advanced preclinical studies aimed at translating results from animal studies to applications with human samples/cohorts

o   Late-stage preclinical work leading to/preparing for a clinical trial, e.g., Investigational New Drug application submission

o   Correlative studies that are associated with an open/ongoing or completed clinical trial

o   Projects that develop endpoints for clinical trials

Funding Level 2:

o   Pilot clinical trials where limited clinical testing (e.g., small sample size) of a novel intervention is necessary to inform the next step in the continuum of translational research

• ·     Preliminary lung cancer relevant data are required.
• ·     Relevance to military health is strongly encouraged.

Funding Level 1

• ·     Clinical trials are not allowed.

Funding Level 2

• ·     Supports translational studies that include a pilot/proof-of-principle clinical trial.
• ·     Patient research advocate involvement is encouraged.

Level 1

• ·      Maximum funding of $900,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·      Period of performance should not exceed 3 years.

Level 2 – Clinical Trial Option

• ·      Maximum funding of $1,200,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• ·      Period of performance should not exceed 4 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 LCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507
help@eBRAP.org

Please contact Jill Sherman for more information at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

Researchers from both academic (including graduate students) and non-academic settings (e.g. not-for-profits, NGOs) can apply for grants to support original research on indigenous issues, informed by indigenous experiences and perspectives.  Proposals for research involving indigenous participants, led by indigenous researchers, or conducted in collaboration with indigenous communities are particularly welcome.  Grants range from USD 5,000 for graduate students/non-PhD researchers, to USD 10,000 for faculty/PhD-level researchers.  Larger proposals may be considered.  Applications are prepared on the RISE website - researchers should send a copy along with a completed RPAF form to Jill Sherman, intl.research@lakeheadu.ca at least 2 weeks prior to the external deadline.   Click HERE for more information.

This scholar award recognizes outstanding physician-scientists whose work has potential to advance standard of care. Each year up to 12 Harrington Scholar-Innovators are chosen. The award includes:

• Two-year grant
• $100,000 guaranteed, opportunity to qualify for up to $1,100,000
• Drug development expertise and project management support
• A personalized team of drug developers and project manager for each award recipient
• Expert business, commercialization and clinical development advice
• Regulatory assistance
• Intellectual property (IP) review and advice
• Assistance identifying and securing additional financial support based on project needs

Connection Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Connection program.

These grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives. These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and to engage with participants on research issues of value to them. Events and outreach activities funded by a Connection Grant can often serve as a first step toward more comprehensive and longer-term projects.

Connection Grants support workshops, colloquiums, conferences, forums, summer institutes, or other events or outreach activities that facilitate:

• disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary exchanges in the social sciences and humanities;
• scholarly exchanges between those working in the social sciences and humanities and those working in other research fields;
• intersectoral exchanges between academic researchers in the social sciences and humanities and researchers and practitioners from the public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors; and/or
• international research collaboration and scholarly exchanges with researchers, students and non-academic partners from other countries.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Enable investigators to co-create and undertake comparative effectiveness and/or implementation science innovative Clinical Trials (iCTs) with patient partners and multidisciplinary teams by supporting the development and testing of innovative methodologies and design, integrating the principles of SPOR.
• Support the application of  iCT designs, including advancements in trauma-informed designs; equity, diversity and inclusion; and inclusion of individuals who have historically been excluded.
• Build capacity for iCT methods and research through increased intensity, i.e., number of trialists, strengthening iCT research capability nationally, in alignment with the SPOR Capacity Development Framework.

This Embedded ECR Award aims to advance the overall objectives of the HSI program. Additionally, this funding opportunity specifically aims to:

1. Support ECRs as they develop embedded research roles and programs that advance the methods of embedded research, build embedded research capacity within health system organizations and mentor emerging embedded researchers, and generate evidence-informed solutions for high-priority challenges within health system organizations.
2. Contribute to building a strong cadre of embedded researchers across the country that will play a role in transformative health system improvement that advances the Quadruple Aim and health equity.
3. Support the development of career pathways for a diverse cadre of embedded researchers within Canada’s health system.

The Eureka SMART Cluster for advanced manufacturing has launched its 6^th call for proposals for research & development (R&D) projects.

SMART is a flexible, industry-driven Eureka Cluster program whose aim is to promote innovative, collaborative, international and close-to-market R&D projects in advanced manufacturing.

Open to:

• small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
• large enterprises and industries;
• universities;
• research organizations; and
• others.

Sector of focus:

Advanced manufacturing with a focus on:

• advanced manufacturing processes;
• customer-based manufacturing;
• digital, virtual and efficient companies;
• intelligent and adaptive manufacturing systems;
• person-machine collaboration; and
• sustainable manufacturing.

Deadline to submit a project outline (optional but recommended): January 30, 2023 (11:00am CET)

For more information, please contact Jill Sherman at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To enhance evidence regarding the adaptation and successful implementation of evidence-based interventions in preventing or reducing exposure to one or more common non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors of city environments;
• To increase understanding of key barriers and facilitators (including contextual factors such as poverty, racism, ethnic discrimination, sex/gender differences) to intervention access, uptake, and effectiveness across demographic groups;
• To improve capacity for implementation research on NCD prevention in cities;
• To foster the incorporation of interventions into local, regional or national health policies and programs, including their scale-up and sustainability, with a focus on equitable outcomes; and
• To support implementation research teams that actively engage partners (i.e., decision makers, Indigenous Peoples, community groups, and service delivery partners) as an integral part of the entire research process.