U.S. Department of Defense (​DoD) Neurofibromatosis Research Program Funding Opportunities

Applications to the Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Neurofibromatosis Research Program (NFRP) are being solicited by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). The managing agent for this Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). The NFRP was initiated in 1996 to provide support for research of exceptional scientific merit that promotes the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of neurofibromatosis (NF) including NF type 1 (NF1) and type 2 (NF2) and schwannomatosis. Appropriations for the NFRP from FY96 through FY15 totaled $287.85 million (M). The FY16 appropriation is $15.0M.

FY16 NFRP Vision: The vision of the FY16 NFRP is to decrease the clinical impact of neurofibromatosis. To this end, the NFRP seeks to support innovative, high-impact research that will foster new directions for and address neglected issues in NF research; sponsor multidisciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations that will bring new perspectives to the field; promote translational and clinical studies to move promising ideas from bench to bedside; and develop a balanced portfolio of meritorious research related to all aspects of NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis.

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

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

Clinical Consortium Award

The Operations Center PI must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent) with experience in developing and running large scale initiatives such as clinical trials or consortia.

·        Support consortium that will conceive, design, develop, and conduct collaborative Phase I, and II clinical evaluations of promising therapeutic agents for the management or treatment of NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis.

·        Open to any group of institutions with a demonstrated history of collaborative NF research

All applications must include letters of intent for conducting a minimum of four clinical trials including at least one NF1- and one NF2-focused study; two studies must be initiated within the first year of the award.

·        The maximum period of performance is 4 years.

·        The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $9,000,000 in total costs.

·        Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with your institution’s negotiated rate agreement.

Note that only $5M total funding (direct and indirect costs) allocated for this award will be from the FY16 NFRP budget; the balance is contingent upon receipt of sufficient congressional appropriations to the NFRP in FY17 and FY18

Clinical Trial Award

Must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

·        Supports research with the potential to have a major impact on the treatment or management of NF.

·        Funds Phase 0, I, or II clinical trials relevant to NF and/or schwannomatosis.  Combinations of phases are permitted.

Must support a clinical trial and may not be used for preclinical research studies.

·        The maximum period of performance is 4 years.

·        The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $900,000 in direct costs.

Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.

Exploration – Hypothesis Development Award

Investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

·       Supports the initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high-gain concepts and potentially groundbreaking concepts in NF research.

·       Preliminary and/or published data encouraged but not required.

·       Projects involving human subjects or human anatomical substances must be exempt under 32 CFR 219.101(b) or eligible for expedited review under 32 CFR 219.110 or 21 CFR 56.110.

Clinical trials not allowed.

·        The maximum period of performance is 2 years.

·        The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $100,000 in direct costs.

Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.    

Investigator-Initiated Research Award

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

Optional Qualified Collaborator:  Must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) and must plan to contribute at least a 10% level of effort for each budget period for the entirety of the award.

·       Supports highly rigorous, high impact research with the potential to make an important contribution to NF research and/or patient care.

·       Preliminary and/or published data required.

·       Optional Qualified Collaborator:  Applications that include a Qualified Collaborator who meets criteria identified in the Program Announcement/
Funding Opportunity may apply for a higher level of funding.

Clinical trials not allowed.

·       The maximum period of performance is 3 years.

·       The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $525,000 in direct costs ($575,000 in direct costs if requesting an Optional Qualified Collaborator).

Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.

New Investigator Award

Must be either an independent investigator at or below the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or an established independent investigator in an area other than NF at or above the level of Assistant Professor seeking to transition into a career in NF research.

To be eligible, applicants may not have received more than $300,000 in direct costs for NF research as a PI of one or more Federally funded, non-mentored peer reviewed grants.

PI must demonstrate a commitment of at least 10% effort toward the proposed NF research project.

·       Supports the continued development of promising independent investigators and/or the transition of established investigators from other research fields into a career in NF research.

·       Prior experience in NF research is not required.

·         Preliminary and/or published data relevant to NF and the proposed research project is required.

Clinical trials not allowed.

·       The maximum period of performance is 3 years.

·       The maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $450,000 in direct costs.

Indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.

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 NFRP 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).