CDMRP Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program Focused Program Award by DoD

The PRMRP Focused Program Award mechanism is intended to optimize research and accelerate solutions to a critical question related to at least one of the Congressionally directed FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas through a synergistic, multidisciplinary research program.

Key aspects of this award include:

Overarching Challenge: Focused Program Award applications must describe a unifying, overarching challenge that will be addressed by a set of research projects. The overarching challenge must be relevant to a critical problem or question in the field of research and/or patient care in at least one of the FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas.

Research Projects: Applications shall include multiple, distinct research projects led by individual project leaders that address complementary aspects of the overarching challenge. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a minimum of four research projects; additional studies are allowed. While individual projects must be capable of standing on their own high scientific merits, they must also be interrelated and synergistic with the other proposed projects and advance a solution beyond what would be possible through individual efforts. The exploration of multiple hypotheses or viewpoints of the same line of questioning is encouraged. This award mechanism is not intended to support a series of research projects that are dependent on the success of one of the other projects. Each project should propose a unique approach to addressing the overarching challenge and be capable of producing research findings with potential to impact the field and/or patient care. Individual research projects may range from exploratory, hypothesis-developing studies through small-scale clinical trials (i.e., up to and including Phase II or equivalent). There should be a clear intent to progress toward translational/ clinical work over the course of the effort.

Implementation: The research strategy to address the overarching challenge must be supported by a detailed implementation plan that identifies critical milestones and outlines the knowledge, resources, and technical innovations that will be utilized to achieve the milestones. A robust statistical plan and statistical expertise should be included where applicable. A plan for assessing individual project performance and progress toward addressing the overarching challenge must be included in the implementation plan. Plans to include an External Advisory Board (EAB) are encouraged; however, applicants must be careful to avoid potential conflicts of interest during review of the application by ensuring no contact with, recruiting of, or naming of specific EAB members in the application. For multi-institutional collaborations, plans for communication and data transfer among the collaborating institutions, as well as how data, specimens, and/or products obtained during the study will be handled, must be included. An intellectual and material property plan agreed to by participating organizations is required in the application’s supporting documentation.

Research Team: The overall effort will be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) with demonstrated success in leading large, focused projects. The PI is required to devote a minimum of 20% effort to this award. The PI should create an environment that fosters and supports collaboration and innovation in a way that engages all members of the team in all aspects of the research plan. The research team assembled by the PI should be highly qualified and multidisciplinary, with identified project leaders for each of the complementary and synergistic research projects. The resources and expertise brought to the team by each project leader should combine to create a robust, synergistic collaboration. The PRMRP Science Officer assigned to a resulting award should be invited to participate in research team meetings (e.g., annual meetings of the entire research team). The plan for such meetings should be noted in the application.

Milestone Meeting: The PI will be required to present an update on progress toward accomplishing the goals of the award at a Milestone Meeting to be held in the National Capital Area after the conclusion of Year 2 of the period of performance. The PI may bring up to three additional members of the research team to the meeting. The Milestone Meeting will be attended by members of the PRMRP Programmatic Panel, CDMRP staff, the USAMRAA Grants Officer, and other DoD stakeholders.

The PRMRP Focused Program Award mechanism is intended to optimize research and accelerate solutions to a critical question related to at least one of the Congressionally directed FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas through a synergistic, multidisciplinary research program.

Key aspects of this award include:

Overarching Challenge: Focused Program Award applications must describe a unifying, overarching challenge that will be addressed by a set of research projects. The overarching challenge must be relevant to a critical problem or question in the field of research and/or patient care in at least one of the FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas.

Research Projects: Applications shall include multiple, distinct research projects led by individual project leaders that address complementary aspects of the overarching challenge. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a minimum of four research projects; additional studies are allowed. While individual projects must be capable of standing on their own high scientific merits, they must also be interrelated and synergistic with the other proposed projects and advance a solution beyond what would be possible through individual efforts. The exploration of multiple hypotheses or viewpoints of the same line of questioning is encouraged. This award mechanism is not intended to support a series of research projects that are dependent on the success of one of the other projects. Each project should propose a unique approach to addressing the overarching challenge and be capable of producing research findings with potential to impact the field and/or patient care. Individual research projects may range from exploratory, hypothesis-developing studies through small-scale clinical trials (i.e., up to and including Phase II or equivalent). There should be a clear intent to progress toward translational/ clinical work over the course of the effort.

Implementation: The research strategy to address the overarching challenge must be supported by a detailed implementation plan that identifies critical milestones and outlines the knowledge, resources, and technical innovations that will be utilized to achieve the milestones. A robust statistical plan and statistical expertise should be included where applicable. A plan for assessing individual project performance and progress toward addressing the overarching challenge must be included in the implementation plan. Plans to include an External Advisory Board (EAB) are encouraged; however, applicants must be careful to avoid potential conflicts of interest during review of the application by ensuring no contact with, recruiting of, or naming of specific EAB members in the application. For multi-institutional collaborations, plans for communication and data transfer among the collaborating institutions, as well as how data, specimens, and/or products obtained during the study will be handled, must be included. An intellectual and material property plan agreed to by participating organizations is required in the application’s supporting documentation.

Research Team: The overall effort will be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) with demonstrated success in leading large, focused projects. The PI is required to devote a minimum of 20% effort to this award. The PI should create an environment that fosters and supports collaboration and innovation in a way that engages all members of the team in all aspects of the research plan. The research team assembled by the PI should be highly qualified and multidisciplinary, with identified project leaders for each of the complementary and synergistic research projects. The resources and expertise brought to the team by each project leader should combine to create a robust, synergistic collaboration. The PRMRP Science Officer assigned to a resulting award should be invited to participate in research team meetings (e.g., annual meetings of the entire research team). The plan for such meetings should be noted in the application.

Milestone Meeting: The PI will be required to present an update on progress toward accomplishing the goals of the award at a Milestone Meeting to be held in the National Capital Area after the conclusion of Year 2 of the period of performance. The PI may bring up to three additional members of the research team to the meeting. The Milestone Meeting will be attended by members of the PRMRP Programmatic Panel, CDMRP staff, the USAMRAA Grants Officer, and other DoD stakeholders.