DoD Prostate Cancer, Health Disparity Research Award | HT9425 23 PCRP HDRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 PCRP HDRA

The FY23 DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) Health Disparity Research Award is designed to fund prostate cancer research that can meaningfully reduce inequities in prostate cancer incidence, morbidity, mortality, and survivorship. The central expectation is impact: projects should be positioned to change what is understood about the causes of disparities and/or to produce actionable advances that can narrow real-world gaps in outcomes. Proposals are expected to align with one or more designated FY23 Health Disparity Research Award Focus Areas, and applicants must clearly explain that alignment. If a project does not directly fit a listed Focus Area, the application has to justify why the work still targets a critical driver of prostate cancer disparities, specifically framed within the FY23 PCRP Overarching Challenges.

The program is intentionally broad in the kinds of science it wants to support, encouraging applications from many disciplines. That includes basic and translational laboratory research, engineering and technology development, bioinformatics and data science, population science and epidemiology, psycho-oncology, implementation science, and health care services research. This breadth reflects the reality that disparities can be driven by multiple interacting factors, such as biology, environment, access to care, care delivery, structural barriers, and survivorship support. High innovation is viewed as a plus, particularly when it increases the likelihood of a major leap in understanding or an outsized improvement in outcomes for underserved groups.

A notable emphasis is community engagement. Investigators are strongly encouraged to involve members of the affected population or community in shaping and carrying out the research when appropriate. When population- or community-based organizations are part of the project, the application should document that involvement through letters of support that make clear what role those partners will actually play. The intent is to move beyond research done "on" communities toward research built with communities, which can improve relevance, recruitment and retention, and the odds that findings translate into practice.

Another defining requirement is a detailed research transition plan. Applicants need to lay out what happens after the award ends, describing a credible pathway to the next stage of development and continued progress toward clinical impact, even if the current project is not expected to deliver an immediate clinical change. The transition plan is not limited to commercializable products like drugs, devices, diagnostics, or assays; it can also address how evidence-based practices, implementation strategies, or care delivery improvements will be adopted in clinics and patient communities. In other words, the program wants a clear bridge from study findings to what comes next, whether that is validation, scale-up, clinical testing, or real-world deployment.

In scope, the award can support basic, translational, and clinical research, including clinical trials, with a key limitation: only small-scale, early-stage trials are allowed (up to and including Phase 2 or equivalent). For teams proposing a trial, the program encourages using the PCRP Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC) to speed trial startup and completion. Preliminary data are encouraged but not mandatory, and any unpublished preliminary data included should come from the PI or the research team. The program also explicitly encourages implementation science aimed at improving how proven discoveries and evidence-based practices are translated into routine care and into the communities most affected by prostate cancer disparities.

For projects examining the biological basis of disparity across populations, the announcement calls for careful thinking about how populations are defined and stratified, particularly the implications of using genetic/genomic classifications versus self-reported race. Applicants are expected to justify their approach and avoid simplistic assumptions that could misrepresent complex drivers of disparity. Across the board, proposals must include a strong statistical plan, including a complete power analysis demonstrating that the sample size is appropriate to meet study objectives. The program also signals expectations for research rigor and reproducibility, encouraging practices like cell line authentication, appropriate statistical rigor in animal studies, and experiments that strengthen clinical relevance and translatability. When a project depends on specific resources (such as specimens, datasets, specialized facilities, or community partnerships), applicants are encouraged to include letters of support confirming access and availability.

The funding opportunity includes a New Investigator category intended for early-career faculty or investigators building independence. New Investigator applications are reviewed with modified personnel criteria, but they must include at least one collaborator with demonstrated experience in prostate cancer health disparity research, backed by a track record of funding and publications. The application should explain why the collaboration is likely to work, how it strengthens the project, and how it fills gaps in the PI's experience; a letter of collaboration describing the collaborator's role is strongly encouraged. This structure is meant to bring promising newer investigators into the field while ensuring that teams have the experience needed to execute disparity-focused prostate cancer research well.

The DoD also highlights broader alignment with national priorities through the Metastatic Cancer Task Force recommendations, encouraging applicants to consider those recommendations when relevant and within the boundaries of the award. In addition, collaborations between military or Veteran institutions and non-military institutions are strongly encouraged, reflecting an interest in leveraging unique infrastructure and patient populations and ensuring the work benefits Service members, military families, Veterans, and the wider public.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, awards are issued as assistance agreements, meaning they may be grants or cooperative agreements depending on the anticipated level of DoD involvement during the project. If substantial agency involvement is expected (for example, active collaboration or participation), a cooperative agreement may be used; if not, a grant is more likely. The anticipated direct costs for the entire performance period should not exceed $900,000. The program expected to commit about $11.52 million total to fund roughly eight awards. Awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2024, and FY23 funds supporting these awards were anticipated to remain available for use until September 30, 2029 (reflecting the period during which those appropriated funds can be expended).

Finally, the opportunity includes clear compliance requirements for research involving human data, human anatomical substances, human subjects, or human cadavers. In addition to local IRB or ethics review, DoD-funded human research must be reviewed and approved by the USAMRDC Office of Human and Animal Research Oversight (OHARO), specifically the Office of Human Research Oversight (OHRO), before the research can begin. Local IRB approval is not required at submission, but it is required before OHRO review, and applicants should plan for up to about three months for OHRO regulatory review after submitting complete materials. Multi-site, non-exempt cooperative research must follow the federal single-IRB requirement (45 CFR 46.114(b)), so applications involving more than one U.S. institution need a plan for single-IRB arrangements and should identify the lead institution responsible for the master protocol and consent. If a project will use DoD or VA resources, databases, or patient populations, the application must describe how access will be obtained and maintained throughout the project period.

• 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 Prostate Cancer, Health Disparity 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 Apr 26, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 24, 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 8 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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