U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program Funding Opportunities

The Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Defense Appropriations Act provides $3.2 million (M) to the Department of Defense Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program (DMDRP) to support innovative, high-impact Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.  As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, Research, Development, and Acquisition (DHA RDA) Directorate manages and executes the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

FY16 DMDRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.

FY16 DMDRP Focus Areas

The DMDRP FY16 Focus Areas are as follows:

All applications for the FY16 DMDRP funding opportunities must address at least one of the following focus areas:

·  Cardiac studies including identifying mechanisms of pathology and therapeutic interventions

·  Clinical studies and novel interventions that could improve clinical care and quality of life, in areas such as:

o    Comorbidities

o    Endocrinology

o    Orthopedics

o    Gastrointestinal issues

o    Psychosocial issues

o    Cognitive function

o    Respiratory issues (including sleep-focused studies)

·  Assessment of clinical trial tools and outcome measures, such as:

o Discovery and qualification of pharmacodynamic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers.

o Evaluating surrogate markers

o Evaluating potential composite scores for outcomes assessment

o Patient-centered outcomes, e.g., quality of life, activities of daily living

·         Extension or expansion of existing preclinical translational data in support of a specific therapeutic development path (including independent replication and comparative studies)

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/dmdrp.shtml

Investigator-Initiated Research Award – Preproposal due 19 July 2016  

       Principal Investigator:  Must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Optional Nested Resident or Medical Student Trainee: Resident trainee must be enrolled in an accredited residency program.  Medical student trainee must be enrolled in a nationally accredited (or equivalent) medical school.  Trainees must be able to devote a minimum of 40% level of effort.

Supports translational research that will have an impact on improving the function, quality of life, and/or extending the lifespan for all individuals with Duchenne.

Clinical trials are allowed.

Preliminary data required.

Maximum funding of $600,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).

Period of performance should not exceed 3 years.

Nested traineeship: Additional maximum of $50,000 for residents or $30,000 for medical students in direct costs (plus indirect costs) over a one-year period of performance.

Career Development Award – Preproposal due 19 July 2016

Principal Investigator: PIs must be research (PhD) - or physician (MD)-scientists at an early stage of their independent research careers within 5 years after completion of his/her terminal degree (excluding time spent in residency or on family medical leave), and exhibit a strong desire to pursue a career in Duchenne research. 

Mentor: The mentor must hold a position at or above the level of an Associate Professor (or equivalent).

Supports early-career investigators to conduct impactful research under the mentorship of an experienced muscular dystrophy researcher.

Clinical trials are not allowed.

Preliminary data required.

Maximum funding of $275,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs).

Period of performance should not exceed 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 that are 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 funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov. For email notification when Program Announcements are released, go to the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil) and select Subscribe to Funding Opportunities & Program Communications.  For more information about the DMDRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

For questions about the research programs, please contact the MRO Research Grants & Contracts Team (adm-researchgrants.contracts@monash.edu).