The DOD is offering the Pancreatic Cancer Translational Research Partnership Award to advance clinical applications through scientist-clinician collaborations.

The FY24 PCARP Translational Research Partnership Award supports partnerships between clinicians and research scientists that will accelerate the movement of promising ideas in pancreatic cancer toward clinical applications. This award supports the development of translational research collaborations between two independent investigators to address a central problem or question in pancreatic cancer in a manner that would be less readily achievable through separate efforts. One partner in the collaboration must function as a research scientist and the other partner as a clinician investigator. It should be clear that both have had equal intellectual input in the design of the research project. Projects involving convergence science partnerships are strongly encouraged. At least one partner must have expertise either in pancreatic cancer research or pancreatic cancer patient care. Inclusion of experts from outside the pancreatic cancer field is encouraged. A proposed project in which the clinical partner merely supplies tissue samples or access to patients will not meet the intent of this award mechanism. Full support for large-scale clinical trials is not expected; retrospective tissue analysis, correlative studies, or small pilot clinical trials are permitted.

Significant features of the Translational Research Partnership Award:

• Partnership: The success of the project should depend on the unique skills and contributions of each partner.

• Translation: The application should provide evidence for the reciprocal transfer of information between basic and clinical science, or vice versa, in developing and implementing the research plan. Translational research may include correlative studies and/or development of or use of annotated biorepositories. The application should demonstrate how the study will leverage clinical information to address knowledge gaps in resulting outcomes, validate key research findings, expand upon potentially transformative results, and/or investigate novel findings.

• Impact: The proposed research should indicate the potential to have a significant impact on pancreatic cancer research and/or patient care and have the potential to accelerate the movement of promising ideas (in prevention, diagnosis, detection, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship) into clinical applications.

• Feasibility: The application should demonstrate that the investigators have access to the necessary specimens, data, and/or intervention, as applicable.

• Preliminary Data: Published and/or unpublished results from the laboratory of the Principal Investigators (PIs) or collaborators named on the application that are relevant to pancreatic cancer and the proposed research project, are required.

Preliminary data to support the feasibility of the research hypothesis(es) and research approaches are required; however, these data do not necessarily need to be derived from studies of pancreatic cancer.

Observations that drive a research idea may be derived from a laboratory discovery, population-based studies, or a clinician’s firsthand knowledge of patients and anecdotal data. The ultimate goal of translational research is to move a concept or observation forward into clinical application that is relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the American public. However, translational research should not be viewed as a one-way continuum from bench to bedside. The research plan must involve a reciprocal flow of ideas and information between basic and clinical science. There should be an intellectual synergistic partnership between the clinic and the laboratory.

The success of the project must be supported by the unique skills and contributions of each partner. The proposed study must include clearly stated plans for interactions between the PIs and the institutions involved. The plans must include communication, coordination of research progress and results, and data transfer. Additionally, multi-institutional applications must provide an intellectual property plan to resolve potential intellectual and material property issues and to remove institutional barriers that might interfere with achieving high levels of cooperation to ensure the successful completion of this award.

The Translational Research Partnership Award requires two PIs. One PI will be identified as the Initiating PI and will be responsible for the majority of the administrative tasks associated with application submission. The other PI will be identified as a Partnering PI. Both PIs should contribute significantly to the development and execution of the proposed research project. If recommended for funding, each PI will be named on separate awards to the recipient organization(s). Each award will be subject to separate reporting, regulatory, and administrative requirements. For individual submission requirements for the Initiating and Partnering PI, refer to Section II.D.2, Content and Form of the Application Submission.