DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Idea Award | HT9425 23 PRCRP IA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 PRCRP IA

The FY23 Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Idea Award is designed to fund bold, early-stage cancer research ideas that are genuinely new and not yet proven. The main goal is to support high-risk, potentially high-reward concepts in basic cancer research that could shift thinking in the field, introduce a new paradigm, challenge an existing one, or tackle a long-standing problem from an unexpected angle. While the research is expected to be relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the broader American public, the emphasis is on creating new knowledge that could eventually improve cancer understanding, care, and treatment options within the Military Health System.

This opportunity is not meant for incremental science or routine extensions of work a lab is already doing. Projects that represent the next logical step in an established line of research, modest refinements, or simply applying an existing approach to a different cancer type are specifically called out as not meeting the innovation intent. Instead, the application should revolve around a clear, testable hypothesis supported by a strong scientific rationale and a thoughtful study design, even if the idea itself is unconventional. The program is essentially asking investigators to make a convincing case that the idea is both creative and scientifically grounded, with an approach capable of producing interpretable results.

A key feature of the Idea Award is its stance on preliminary data. Applicants are discouraged from including preliminary data because the award is meant to support exploratory work rather than ongoing or already well-developed projects. If preliminary data are included, reviewers will evaluate them, and they may influence funding decisions. Data that make the project look too mature or too far beyond early investigation can work against the application, because it suggests the work may be better suited for a different mechanism. The announcement explicitly points investigators with more advanced projects and robust preliminary evidence toward the FY23 PRCRP Impact Award instead, reinforcing that the Idea Award is for earlier, less-established directions.

The expected outcome of an Idea Award project is the generation of strong preliminary findings that can serve as a launchpad for future, larger studies. In other words, the award aims to help researchers gather the initial evidence needed to validate a new mechanism, concept, or model related to cancer initiation or progression, survivorship and quality of life during and after treatment, or other foundational questions that could later translate into improved prevention, diagnosis, or therapy. The intention is that by the end of the project, the investigator has credible early results that justify follow-on funding and deeper investigation.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA) under CFDA 12.420, using either grant or cooperative agreement instruments. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of applicant organization types may apply, subject to any additional requirements in the full announcement. The opportunity was created on April 4, 2023, with an original closing date of September 12, 2023. The posting indicates an expectation of about 30 awards, and the award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically signals that the ceiling may be defined elsewhere in the full program announcement or is not captured in the summary field.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Idea Award" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 04, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 12, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for HT9425 23 PRCRP IA

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