U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Funding Opportunities

The FY16 Defense Appropriations Act provides $30 million (M) to the Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) to support innovative, high-impact spinal cord injury 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 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 SCIRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.  http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/scirp.shtml\

Clinical Trial Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

·    Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·    Fund Phase 0, I, or II clinical trials with the potential to have a major impact on treatment or management of SCI and its consequences.

·    Preclinical data required for all clinical trial applications.

·      Maximum funding of $2,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 4 years

Investigator-Initiated Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

·    Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·    Fund SCI-related research that has the potential to make an important contribution to SCI research and/or patient care.

·    Preliminary data required.

·    Clinical trials not allowed.

·      Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Qualitative Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

·    Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·    Fund qualitative research on military Service members and Veterans in the years following spinal cord injury.

·    Qualitative research is defined as a form of social inquiry that focuses on understanding the way that people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live (i.e., seek to understand the human experience).

·    Preliminary data encouraged but not required.

·    Clinical trials not allowed.

·      Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Translational Research Award

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

·    Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

·    Fund studies that accelerate the movement of promising ideas in SCI research into clinical applications.

·    Optional Feature:  Applications that include a Qualified Collaborator that meets criteria identified in the announcement may apply for a higher level of funding.

·    Preliminary data required.

·    Limited clinical testing of a novel intervention or device is permissible.

·      Maximum funding of $1,250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·      Maximum funding of $1,500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs) for applications including an Optional Qualified Collaborator.

·      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 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 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 SCIRP 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).