DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's Convergence Science Research Award | W81XWH 18 PRARP CSRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 18 PRARP CSRA

The DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's Convergence Science Research Award (CSRA), offered under the FY18 Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's Research Program (PRARP) by the Department of Defense (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, USAMRAA), funds research that connects traumatic brain injury (TBI) with later development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). The core purpose is to create practical research resources, tools, or novel lines of investigation that can be used by researchers and health practitioners, with an emphasis on outcomes that matter for military Service members, Veterans, and the broader civilian population. The opportunity is positioned as a "convergence" award, meaning applicants are expected to bring together expertise, methods, or data sources across disciplines to address gaps at the intersection of TBI and neurodegenerative disease.

Eligibility is broadly open (unrestricted by organization type), but the Principal Investigator must be at least at the Assistant Professor level (or equivalent). While applicants can come from any discipline, the application is expected to show that the study team has credible, demonstrated experience in both TBI research and AD/ADRD research, which signals that the program values teams that can genuinely bridge these two areas rather than treating one as an add-on. Preliminary data is not required, but it is encouraged; applicants may support feasibility and rationale using their own published findings, pilot data, or strong evidence from peer-reviewed literature.

From a funding and project planning standpoint, awards are structured as grants or cooperative agreements (depending on how the project will be managed), with a maximum of $500,000 in direct costs for the entire project period and a maximum performance period of three years. The funding opportunity anticipated making about five awards. While the listing shows an "Award Ceiling" field as zero, the narrative text provides the practical cap (direct costs not to exceed $500,000), so applicants would typically build budgets around that stated limit and consult the full announcement for any category-specific restrictions.

Applications must tackle one or more of the program's stated "Overarching Challenges," which reflect where the DoD believes the field is still underdeveloped. These challenges include: (1) a shortage of research resources that enable rigorous study of the TBI to AD/ADRD relationship; (2) too few clinical studies examining how TBI influences later dementia risk, including identification of risk factors that predispose individuals to AD/ADRD after TBI; (3) the need for diagnostic technologies, tests, biomarkers, or devices that can detect or predict progression toward AD/ADRD after a TBI, again including work on risk factors; and (4) limited epidemiological research that clarifies incidence, distribution, and determinants of AD/ADRD outcomes following TBI. In other words, the program is looking for projects that either build enabling infrastructure, fill clinical evidence gaps, improve detection and prognosis, or clarify population-level patterns and risks.

In addition to addressing at least one overarching challenge, proposals are expected to align with at least one "Focus Area" that supports those challenges. The focus areas include mechanistic studies of pathogenesis (for example, how diffuse or traumatic axonal injury, neuroinflammation, immune regulation, tau biology/pathology, vascular contributions, non-neuronal cell roles, or omics-based approaches may connect TBI to later neurodegeneration). Another focus area is biomarkers, including fluid-based markers, imaging markers, physiological measures, or omics strategies aimed at diagnosis, prognosis, or characterization of neurological changes and risk profiles after TBI. A third focus area is epidemiological research that examines patterns, determinants, and distribution of disease in people affected by TBI and subsequent AD/ADRD. The fourth is novel target identification, defined as basic (non-human) research that directly leads to identifying new biological targets that could eventually support development of therapeutics. The announcement also notes some flexibility: research outside these focus areas can be acceptable if the applicant provides a strong rationale for why the approach is still responsive to program goals.

A notable boundary condition is that pharmacological interventions are specifically discouraged. The program defines a pharmacological intervention as clinical research that requires investigational drugs or even FDA-approved drugs/medicines as part of the study intervention. That does not mean the program is uninterested in biology relevant to treatment; rather, it signals that this particular mechanism is aimed more at foundational understanding, risk identification, diagnostics, prognostics, enabling resources, and target discovery than at running drug-based clinical trials.

Administratively, the opportunity was posted June 13, 2018, with an original closing date of October 4, 2018, and it is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development (CFDA 12.420). Overall, the award is designed to accelerate progress on the TBI to dementia connection by funding interdisciplinary teams that can generate usable resources and credible evidence, especially where current clinical, diagnostic, and epidemiological capabilities are still insufficient for military, Veteran, and civilian needs.

• 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 Alzheimer's Convergence Science Research 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 Jun 13, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 04, 2018. (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 5 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.

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