OpportunityTitle: DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Level 4
Description: The intent of the Breakthrough Award is to support promising research that has high potential to lead to or make breakthroughs in breast cancer. The critical components of this award mechanism are: Impact: Research supported by the Breakthrough Award will have the potential for a major impact and accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer. The impact may be near-term or long-term, but must move beyond a minor advancement and have the potential to lead to a new approach that is fundamentally better than interventions already approved or in clinical development. Applications are expected to identify the breast cancer patients or at-risk individuals who would ultimately benefit from the proposed research. Research Scope: The Breakthrough Award is structured with four different funding levels. The levels are designed to support major (but not all) stages of research that will lead to clinical application. Each level has a defined research scope. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to select the level that aligns with the scope of the proposed research. The funding level should be selected based on the research scope defined in the Program Announcement, and not on the amount of the budget. An application that does not meet the intent of the funding level selected will not be recommended for funding, even if it might meet the intent of a different funding level. The current Program Announcement discusses the Breakthrough Award Level 4. Funding Levels 1, 2, and 3 are available under other Program Announcements (W81XWH-19-BCRP- BTA12 for Levels 1 and 2 and W81XWH-19-BCRP-BTA3 for Level 3). The PI is strongly encouraged to review the research scopes defined under each funding level as described in the corresponding Breakthrough Award Program Announcements before submitting the pre- application. The following are general descriptions, although not all-inclusive, of the scope of research projects that would be appropriate to propose under the current Program Announcement: Funding Level 4: Large-scale projects that will transform and revolutionize the clinical management and/or prevention of breast cancer. Human clinical trials are required. PIs are expected to have experience in successfully leading large-scale projects and demonstrated ability (through personal experience or via a commitment from a collaborating clinical investigator) to implement a clinical project successfully. Where relevant, applications must demonstrate availability of and access to necessary data, human samples, cohort(s), and/or critical reagents. For proposed research that will require U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involvement, project readiness requirements at the time of application submission include: proof of availability of and access to clinical reagents (e.g., therapeutics) that meet regulatory compliance guidelines, proof of availability of and access to appropriate subject population(s), validated projections for patient recruitment, and submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application to the FDA, if applicable. Funding from this award mechanism must support a clinical trial. Recruitment Milestones: The application must indicate the quarterly enrollment targets across all sites in Attachment 4: Statement of Work (SOW). Successful applicants will work with USAMRAA to establish milestones for human subject recruitment. Continued support for the project will be based upon satisfactory progress in meeting the established milestones. Partnering PI Option: The Breakthrough Award encourages applications that include meaningful and productive collaborations between investigators. The Partnering PI Option is structured to accommodate two PIs, referred to as the Initiating PI and the Partnering PI, each of whom will be funded with a separate award. There are different submission requirements for the Initiating and Partnering PIs&#8217; applications; however, both PIs should contribute significantly to the development of the proposed research project including the Project Narrative, SOW, and other required components. The PIs may have expertise in similar or disparate scientific disciplines, but each PI is expected to bring distinct contributions to the application. New collaborations are encouraged, but not required. The application is expected to describe how the PIs&#8217; combined expertise will better address the research question and explain why the work should be done together rather than through separate efforts. To meet the intent of the Partnering PI Option, applicants are discouraged from being named as a Partnering PI on multiple Breakthrough Award Level 4 applications unless they are clearly addressing distinct research questions. Personnel: Applications are expected to include an appropriate and robust research team with the combined backgrounds and breast cancer-related expertise to enable successful conduct of the project. Consumer Advocates: Applications are required to include consumer advocate involvement. The research team must include two or more breast cancer consumer advocates, who will be integral throughout the planning and implementation of the research project. Consumer advocates should be involved in the development of the research question, project design, oversight, recruitment, and evaluation, as well as other significant aspects of the proposed project. Interactions with other team members should be well integrated and ongoing, not limited to attending seminars and semi-annual meetings. As lay representatives, the consumer advocates must be individuals who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and they should be active in a breast cancer advocacy organization. Their role in the project should be independent of their employment, and they cannot be employees of any of the organizations participating in the application. Their role should be focused on providing objective input on the research and its potential impact for individuals with, or at risk for, breast cancer. The consumer advocates should have a high level of knowledge of current breast cancer issues and the appropriate background or training in breast cancer research to contribute to the project. Relevance to Military Health: The proposed research must be relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: CDMRP Help Desk
GrantorContactText: CDMRP Help Desk &lt;br/&gt;Phone:      301-682-5507 &lt;br/&gt;Email:       help@eBRAP.org