DoD Lupus, Impact Award | W81XWH 19 LRP IA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 19 LRP IA

The DoD Lupus Research Program (LRP) Impact Award (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-19-LRP-IA) is a discretionary research funding opportunity administered by the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, through USAMRAA. It is designed to support lupus research projects across a broad range of scientific and clinical topics, as long as the work squarely targets lupus-related problems and, if successful, could produce a major step forward for the field. The program emphasizes proposals that are ambitious and consequential, and it frames the award as a way to push lupus research in directions that could meaningfully change understanding of the disease and improve outcomes for people living with lupus.

A central expectation of this award is that the application presents a clear, well-formulated, and testable hypothesis grounded in strong scientific rationale. That rationale should be built through careful reasoning and a critical assessment of existing literature, showing that the applicant understands where the field stands and why the proposed work is a logical (or strategically bold) next move. Preliminary data are not strictly required, but the opportunity explicitly encourages their inclusion, which signals that applicants should provide as much evidence as possible to support feasibility and strengthen the case for the proposed approach.

The review criteria and program intent place heavy weight on "impact." Applicants are responsible for explicitly describing how their findings could affect an area of paramount importance in lupus, and why the anticipated outcomes matter. The award is positioned as high-risk, high-reward: it is open to novel experimental strategies and unconventional ideas when they are backed by compelling logic, or to more established approaches when the literature strongly supports them and the proposed execution is particularly strong. In either case, the proposal needs to demonstrate deep understanding of lupus biology and/or lupus clinical challenges, along with a rigorous plan for how the research will be performed.

Another key element is the research team. The opportunity expects that the team has the right expertise and track record to carry out the work successfully. While the program welcomes innovative science, it still expects investigators to show they have the technical capability, disease-area knowledge, and operational capacity to deliver. In practical terms, that means the application should make it easy for reviewers to see that the team composition matches the complexity of the project and that roles and contributions are aligned with the work plan.

To be eligible for funding under this Impact Award, the proposed research must address at least one of the FY19 Lupus Research Program Focus Areas (the specific focus areas are referenced in the announcement but not listed in the text provided). The program also sets a hard boundary that clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement, so projects must be structured accordingly (for example, mechanistic studies, preclinical work, translational research short of a clinical trial, and other non-trial clinical investigations may be more appropriate depending on the program definition). In addition, the research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public, which is a standard DoD relevance requirement; applicants typically need to make that relevance explicit rather than assuming it is self-evident.

From a funding standpoint, the anticipated maximum total cost for an individual Impact Award is capped at $525,000 for the entire period of performance, with additional guidance referenced under the program's funding restrictions section. Program-wide, the CDMRP expected to allocate roughly $3.15 million to support approximately six awards, although actual awards depend on federal funding availability and on the number, quality, and programmatic fit of submitted applications. The announcement notes that awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2020, and that the funds anticipated for these awards were FY19 funds with a use expiration date of September 30, 2025, which reflects the limited period during which the government can obligate and use appropriated funds.

The funding instrument type for this opportunity can be either a grant or a cooperative agreement, both categorized as assistance agreements rather than procurement contracts. Which one is used depends mainly on how much involvement the DoD expects to have during the project. If no substantial federal involvement is anticipated, the award will typically be a grant (31 USC 6304). If substantial involvement is expected, the award will be a cooperative agreement (31 USC 6305), and the agreement will spell out what that involvement looks like, such as collaboration, participation, or intervention in aspects of the research. The specific award type and project start date are ultimately set during the negotiation process.

Administrative details provided in the source include that eligible applicants were listed as "unrestricted" (open to any entity type, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement), the opportunity category is discretionary, the activity category is science and technology and other research and development, and the CFDA number is 12.420. The opportunity was created May 3, 2019, with an original application deadline of September 4, 2019.

• 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 Lupus, Impact 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 May 03, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 04, 2019. (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 6 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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