The Department of Defense is Offering the Lung Cancer Translational Research Grant to Advance Discoveries into Clinical Applications

The FY22 LCRP Investigator-Initiated Translational Research Award mechanism supports translational research that will develop promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications. Translational research may be defined as an integration of basic science and clinical observations. Observations that drive a research idea may originate from a laboratory discovery, population-based studies, or a clinician’s firsthand knowledge of patient care. The ultimate goal of translational research is to move a concept or observation forward into clinical application. However, Principal Investigators (PIs) should not view translational research as a one-way continuum from bench to bedside. Research applications only in the area of mesothelioma will not be accepted. The research plan must involve a reciprocal flow of ideas and information between basic and clinical science.

This mechanism is intended to fund a broad range of translational studies, including, but not limited, to the following:

• Studies advancing/translating in vitro and/or animal studies to applications with human samples/cohorts.

• Late-stage preclinical work leading to/preparing for a clinical trial, e.g., Investigational New Drug (IND) application submission.

• Correlative studies that are associated with an open/ongoing or completed clinical trial and projects that develop endpoints for clinical trials.

Preliminary lung cancer relevant data to support the feasibility of the research hypotheses and research approaches are required.

Relevance to Military Health: The LCRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service Members, Veterans, and their families. Relevance to military health will be considered in determining relevance to the mission of the DHP and FY22 LCRP during programmatic review. Investigators are strongly encouraged to consider the following characteristics as examples of how a project may demonstrate relevance to military health:

• Use of military or Veteran populations, biospecimens, data/databases, or programs in the proposed research.

• Collaboration with Department of Defense (DOD) or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) investigators.

• Explanation of how the project addresses an aspect of lung cancer that has relevance or is unique to the military, Veterans, other Military Health System (MHS) beneficiaries, or family readiness of Service Members, including environmental exposures other than tobacco.