DoD Kidney Cancer, Concept Award | HT9425 23 KCRP CA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 KCRP CA

The DoD Kidney Cancer, Concept Award (FY23 Kidney Cancer Research Program, KCRP) is designed to fund bold, high-risk kidney cancer ideas that are genuinely new rather than a logical next step of an existing project. The core purpose is to give investigators room to chase an unexpected observation or a fresh hypothesis that could open an entirely new direction for the field. A key feature is that the work is supposed to be untested and potentially groundbreaking, meaning reviewers are looking for creativity and strong scientific rationale rather than an already well-supported line of research.

A major rule that shapes how applications must be written is that preliminary data are not allowed and should not be included or even discussed. The program is intentionally structured for early-stage concepts where feasibility has not yet been demonstrated. The expectation is that, if funded, the project can produce the kind of initial results that later become preliminary data for a larger, more traditional grant application. In other words, this mechanism is meant to seed new research trajectories, not to underwrite mature studies that are already moving forward.

The proposed work must also be relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the broader American public. While the research topic is kidney cancer, applicants are expected to articulate a clear connection to public benefit, including the military and Veteran communities when applicable. The program also strongly encourages collaborations, especially partnerships that link military or Veteran institutions with non-military organizations, with the idea that combining access to unique populations, clinical infrastructure, and specialized expertise can accelerate progress.

Applications are reviewed under a blinded process, meaning reviewers will not know the identities of the principal investigator, collaborators, or the institutions involved. This places extra emphasis on writing a clear, self-contained narrative that stands on its own scientific merits, since reputational signals are intentionally removed from the evaluation.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, awards are issued as assistance agreements, which can take the form of either a grant or a cooperative agreement. The deciding factor is how much involvement the Department of Defense anticipates during the project. If no substantial agency involvement is expected, it will be a grant; if DoD expects substantial involvement such as collaboration, participation, or intervention during the research, it will be a cooperative agreement. The final award type and start date are set during negotiations.

In terms of budget and scale, the anticipated direct costs for the entire period of performance are capped at $100,000. Program-wide, the CDMRP planned to allocate about $2.24 million to support roughly 14 Concept Awards, though actual funding depends on federal funds availability, application volume, and the outcomes of scientific and programmatic review. Awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2024, and the funds associated with this FY23 opportunity are expected to remain available for obligation/use until they expire on September 30, 2029.

The announcement also highlights broader DoD priorities in metastatic and advanced cancers through the Metastatic Cancer Task Force recommendations, encouraging applicants to consider ideas aligned with accelerating clinical and translational impact for advanced or recurrent disease, as long as proposals remain within the Concept Award’s scope and the FY23 KCRP priorities.

If the research involves humans in any form, including human subjects, identifiable human data, human specimens, or cadavers, there are added regulatory layers beyond a typical academic process. DoD-funded human-related research must be reviewed by the USAMRDC Office of Human and Animal Research Oversight, specifically the Office of Human Research Oversight, before the work can begin. Local IRB or Ethics Committee approval is not required at the time of application, but it is required before the DoD-level review can occur. Applicants are cautioned to plan for the timeline, since the DoD regulatory review can take up to about three months after submission of a complete package. For multi-site, non-exempt U.S. human subjects research, a single IRB plan is required under 45 CFR 46.114(b), and the application or negotiations should identify the lead institution responsible for the master protocol and consent materials.

The opportunity distinguishes clinical trials from other clinical research. A clinical trial is defined as prospective assignment of human subjects to interventions to evaluate effects on health-related outcomes. Observational studies, diagnostic or detection work (such as biomarker or imaging efforts), mechanisms of disease studies, health disparities research, technology development that is not testing an intervention’s effect, epidemiology, and outcomes or health services research may qualify as clinical research without being a clinical trial, depending on the design. The announcement also notes that certain secondary research that is exempt under Common Rule category 4 is not treated as clinical research for CDMRP purposes.

If applicants plan to use Department of Defense or Department of Veterans Affairs resources, including access to active-duty populations, VA patient groups, or DoD/VA databases, they must describe that access at submission and provide a plan for maintaining it throughout the study. Similarly, animal research triggers its own dual approval pathway: in addition to local IACUC requirements, DoD-funded animal work must be reviewed by the Animal Care and Use Review Office (ACURO). Local approval is not required at submission, but applicants should expect an additional 3 to 4 months for DoD animal regulatory review once materials are submitted.

Finally, the program places emphasis on rigorous study design and transparent reporting for animal and preclinical work, pointing applicants to widely recognized standards such as the Landis guidelines (randomization, blinding, sample-size estimation, and data handling) and the ARRIVE 2.0 reporting framework. Even though the award supports exploratory, high-risk concepts, the expectation is that the science is still planned and executed with strong methodological discipline so that any signals discovered can be trusted and built upon later.

• 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 Kidney Cancer, Concept 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 02, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 03, 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 14 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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