The Department of Defense is offering the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Idea Development Award to foster innovative research and improve patient care.

The IDA promotes ideas that have the potential to yield high-impact findings and new avenues of investigation. This award mechanism supports conceptually innovative research that could ultimately lead to critical discoveries in TSC research and/or improvements in patient care. Research projects should include a well-formulated, testable hypothesis based on strong preliminary data and scientific rationale.

The following are important aspects of the IDA:

·        Impact: Applications should articulate both the short- and long-term impact of the proposed research. High-impact research will, if successful, significantly advance TSC research and/or patient care.

·        Innovation: Innovative research may introduce a new paradigm, challenge existing paradigms, look at existing problems from new perspectives, or exhibit other uniquely creative qualities that may include high-risk/potentially high-gain approaches to TSC research. Research that is merely an incremental advance (the next logical step) is not considered innovative.

·        Preliminary Data: Unpublished results from the laboratory of the Principal Investigator (PI) or collaborators named on this application, and/or data from the published literature that are relevant to TSC and the proposed research project, are required.

·        New-to-the-Field Investigator (NFI): The FY23 TSCRP IDA mechanism encourages applications from investigators in the early stages of their TSC research career. The NFI Option is designed to support the continued development of promising independent investigators that are early in their faculty appointments and/or the transition of established investigators from other research fields into a career in the field of TSC research. Applications to the NFI Option will compete separately from Established Investigators submitting to the regular IDA. PIs applying under the NFI category are strongly encouraged to strengthen their applications through collaboration with investigators experienced in TSC research and/or possessing other relevant expertise as demonstrated by a record of funding and publications. See Attachment 9: Eligibility Statements.