Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson's Research Program Pre-announcement (UNCLASSIFIED)

The Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) Defense Appropriations Act provides $16 million (M) to the Department of Defense Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson’s Research (NETPR) Program to provide support for research of exceptional scientific merit leading to an understanding of the cause, prevention, and treatment of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the Substantia nigra that result in Parkinson’s disease (PD).  Applications to the FY15 NETPR Program will be solicited by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA).  The executing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The NETPR Program is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY15 NETPR Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the Depression Research Award and Career Progression Award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in October 2015.  Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released.  This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the Government.

The mission of the NETPR Program is to 

• Identify surrogate markers of PD, 
• Correlate distinctive clinical features with specific clusters of these markers, and 
• Develop interventions in bio-molecular pathways that link markers and expressed clinical features in order to prevent or halt progression of the disease or improve the quality of life for PD patients.

Depression Research Award

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

• Supports research efforts that will make significant advancements in the understanding of serotonergic and non-serotonergic molecular pathways identified with depression and associated biologic phenomena that link the pathways to other risk factors in the development and progression of PD.
• Research supported by this award should lead to the development of new treatments or improvement of current treatments for depression, specifically in individuals with or at risk for PD.
• Preliminary data are required.
• Areas of Emphasis on depression as a risk factor and/or co-morbidity in PD:

• Delineation of metabolic pathways that may lead to identification of molecular markers and/or therapeutic targets associated with modulation or control of serotonergic or non-serotonergic activity.

• Characterization of underlying genetic mechanisms associated with development of depression, or characterization of intersects between genetic mechanisms associated with depression and other known risk factors (as identified in published literature) for development of PD.

• Identification of surrogate markers in the blood for identification, diagnosis, susceptibility, maintenance, or progression of depression associated with neurodegeneration.

• Innovative applications not focused on the Areas of Emphasis noted above are acceptable, provided the application:

• Is specifically related to development or progression of depression as a non-motor manifestation of PD and/or is clearly linked to depression as a risk factor for initiation or progression of PD; and

• Provides a strong rationale for relevance to the mission of the NETPR Program.

• Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
• Clinical trials are not allowed
• The direct costs allowed and periods of performance are shown below.

• Anticipation is that budgets will not exceed $1,500,000 in direct costs.

• Period of performance not to exceed 3 years.

Career Progression Award

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

• Never received an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Supports independent, early-career investigators who have innovative, high-impact ideas or new technologies applicable to PD research and/or patient care.
• Provides funding and experience necessary for productive career progression at the forefront of research specifically on non-motor aspects of PD.
• Preliminary data are required.
• Areas of Emphasis for non-motor manifestations in PD (e.g., cognitive impairment, depression, autonomic dysfunction, and sleep disturbance):

• Identification of metabolic pathway alterations and/or therapeutic intervention points.

• Identification of molecular markers.

• Exploration of genetic alterations associated with functional expressions of non-motor manifestations of the sporadic (non-familial) form of PD.

• Innovative applications not focused on the Areas of Emphasis noted above are acceptable, provided the application:

• Addresses the development or progression of one or more non-motor manifestations of PD; and

• Provides a strong rationale for relevance to the mission of the NETPR Program.

• Submission of a Letter of Intent is required prior to full application submission.
• Clinical trials are not allowed.
• The direct costs allowed and periods of performance are shown below.

• Anticipation is that budgets will not exceed $250,000 in direct costs.

• Period of performance not to 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 will be 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.  Submission deadlines are not available until the Program Announcements are released.  Requests for email notification of the Program Announcements release may be sent to help@cdmrp.org.  For more information about the NETPR Program or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit theCDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs Ph: 301-619-9783 email: usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil