Funder: Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA
Due Dates: June 30, 2025 (Pre-Application) | October 1, 2025 (Full Application, by invitation only)
Funding Amounts: Up to $2,000,000 direct costs per award (max 4 years); ~2 awards expected; total program funding $6.4M
Summary: Funds multidisciplinary, multi-PI research programs addressing critical unmet needs in rare melanomas, including clinical trials.
Key Information: Requires a pre-application and invitation to submit a full application; Initiating PI and at least one Partnering PI required.
Description
This opportunity supports multidisciplinary research programs focused on rare melanomas. Each application must address a critical unmet need through at least two, but not more than three, distinct and complementary research projects unified by an overarching question. The mechanism is designed to foster collaboration among independent investigators and encourages, but does not require, engagement with the rare melanoma patient/consumer community. Clinical trials are allowed.
The program is managed by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). The intent is to advance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for those affected by rare melanomas, with particular interest in projects beyond uveal melanoma (e.g., genetic subtypes, histologic variants, tissue of origin, pediatric or leptomeningeal presentations).
Due Dates
- Pre-Application (required): June 30, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ET (via eBRAP)
- Invitation to Submit Full Application: Expected by July 31, 2025
- Full Application (by invitation only): October 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m. ET (via Grants.gov for extramural, eBRAP for intramural)
- End of Application Verification Period: October 7, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ET
Funding Amount
- Total Direct Costs: Up to $2,000,000 per award (combined across all PIs) for up to 4 years
- Estimated Number of Awards: 2
- Total Program Funding: $6,400,000
- Separate awards will be made to each PI’s organization; direct cost funding should be divided accordingly.
- Indirect costs may be budgeted per each organization’s negotiated rate.
Eligibility
- Organizations: Open to extramural (academic, nonprofit, for-profit, federal except DoD, foreign) and intramural DoD organizations.
- Principal Investigators:
- Initiating PI: Must be an independent investigator at or above Associate Professor (or equivalent); minimum 10% effort required; may only be named as Initiating PI on one application.
- Partnering PI(s): At least one (max two), each must be an independent investigator at or above Assistant Professor (or equivalent).
- All PIs: May be from different organizations; eligibility is not restricted by citizenship or nationality.
- Other: Awards are made to organizations, not individuals. No cost sharing required.
Application Process
Step 1: Pre-Application (Required)
- Submission: Only the Initiating PI submits via eBRAP.
- Components: Two-page narrative (overarching question, project summaries, team description), references, list of abbreviations, combined PI biosketches.
- Consumer Collaborators: If included, must be named at this stage.
Step 2: Full Application (By Invitation Only)
- Invitation: Only selected pre-applicants may submit a full application.
- Submission: Each PI (Initiating and Partnering) submits a separate application package (Initiating PI submits full, Partnering PI(s) submit abbreviated).
- Portal: Grants.gov for extramural, eBRAP for intramural.
- Key Attachments: Project narrative (25 pages), technical and lay abstracts, statement of work, overarching question statement, impact statement, post-award transition plan, supporting documentation, budget, and (if applicable) clinical trial strategy and consumer collaboration plan.
- Milestone Meeting: Required after year 2; continued funding contingent on progress.
Additional Requirements
- Registrations: Active SAM.gov, eBRAP, and Grants.gov registrations required.
- Compliance: Applications must adhere to page limits and formatting; uninvited or incomplete applications will be rejected.
Additional Information
- Clinical Trials: Allowed; must include preliminary data and a detailed clinical trial strategy.
- Consumer Engagement: Strongly encouraged to include rare melanoma survivors, caregivers, or advocacy organizations as collaborators.
- Research Focus: Projects may span biology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, detection, prognosis, treatment, and quality of life, but must not focus on non-melanoma skin cancers.
- Military Relevance: Projects relevant to military or veteran populations are encouraged.
- Review Process: Two-tiered (peer review for technical merit, programmatic review for relevance and impact).
External Links
Contact Information
For programmatic questions, refer to the contacts above or consult the full program announcement for additional details.