DoD Kidney Cancer, Translational Research Partnership Award | W81XWH 19 KCRP TRPA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 19 KCRP TRPA

The DoD Kidney Cancer, Translational Research Partnership Award (FY19 KCRP TRPA; Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-19-KCRP-TRPA) is a U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) grant mechanism designed to speed up progress in kidney cancer by funding tightly integrated, two-person partnerships that bridge the clinic and the lab. The central idea is to move promising concepts toward real clinical application by requiring true co-leadership between a clinician and a research scientist, rather than funding projects where clinical involvement is limited to providing samples or patient access. The program explicitly frames translational research as a two-way exchange: clinical insights should shape laboratory work, and laboratory discoveries should be tested and refined using clinically grounded data and perspectives, creating a feedback loop that makes the overall work stronger and more clinically relevant.

A core eligibility and structure requirement is that the project be led by two independent, faculty-level (or equivalent) investigators: one must be a clinician and the other must be a research scientist, with clear evidence that both contributed equally to the intellectual design of the project. Multi-institutional collaborations are encouraged, and the partnership must include at least one person with meaningful experience in kidney cancer research or kidney cancer patient care. At the same time, the opportunity welcomes expertise from outside the kidney cancer field when that outside perspective can unlock new approaches or solve persistent problems. What the program does not want is a token collaboration where the clinician simply acts as a source of specimens or patients while the scientific work happens elsewhere; instead, reviewers will be looking for an authentic, synergistic division of labor where the project could not be executed as effectively by either investigator working alone.

From a scientific standpoint, the award supports translational research intended to accelerate advances across the kidney cancer continuum, including prevention, diagnosis, detection, prognosis, treatment, and survivorship, as long as the work is aimed at getting closer to clinical use. While clinical trials are not permitted under this mechanism (with the FY19 definition emphasizing prospective assignment of human subjects to interventions), the award can support correlative studies linked to an ongoing or completed clinical trial. In those cases, applicants must demonstrate and document confirmed access to the relevant specimens and/or data for the cohort at the time of submission, typically through formal letters verifying access. More broadly, feasibility is a major review theme: applicants need to show they can actually obtain the specimens, datasets, and other resources required to complete the work.

Preliminary data are required to justify the feasibility of the hypothesis and approach, but the program allows flexibility in where those data come from. Supporting evidence does not have to be generated in kidney cancer specifically, as long as it credibly de-risks the proposed strategy. The announcement also recognizes that the initial spark for a translational project can come from many directions, including laboratory discoveries, population-based analyses, or a clinician's direct observations and experience with patients (including patterns noticed in real-world care). The key is that the proposal clearly explains how these observations will be advanced toward a practical clinical application and how both partners will continuously inform each other as the project progresses.

Because collaboration is central, the application must include concrete plans for how the two PIs (and any participating institutions) will work together in day-to-day practice. That includes communication routines, coordination of research activities, processes for sharing progress and results, and mechanisms for data transfer. For multi-institutional teams, an intellectual property plan is required to address ownership and material transfer issues upfront and reduce institutional friction that could otherwise slow down cooperation or derail milestones. The award is formally structured around two PIs, called the Initiating PI and the Partnering PI, and each PI receives a separate award with distinct submission requirements, even though both are expected to contribute substantially to core sections like the project narrative and statement of work. A recurring expectation is that the applicants explicitly justify why the work must be done together, and why splitting the effort into separate projects would be less effective.

The award is administered by the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, through USAMRAA, and is open to a broad range of applicant organizations (unrestricted eligibility, subject to the detailed rules in the announcement). Funding is provided as an assistance agreement, meaning it will be issued either as a grant or as a cooperative agreement depending on how much substantial involvement the DoD anticipates during performance. The combined direct costs across the full period of performance are capped at $600,000 for the overall partnership. For FY19, CDMRP projected roughly $2.88 million total to fund about three awards, with final funding dependent on federal availability and on scientific and programmatic review outcomes. Awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2020, and the FY19 funds were noted as expiring for use on September 30, 2025.

The opportunity also lays out important compliance expectations for studies involving humans, human materials, cadavers, animals, and DoD or VA populations and resources. Any DoD-funded research involving human subjects or human anatomical substances must undergo review by the USAMRMC Office of Research Protections, Human Research Protection Office (HRPO), in addition to local IRB or ethics review; local approval is not required at submission, but HRPO approval is required before research can begin, and applicants are advised to plan for at least 2 to 3 months for that regulatory review (potentially longer for international work). If the study recruits human subjects, the statement of work must include quarterly enrollment targets across all sites, and milestones may be set and monitored. Similarly, animal research requires review by ACURO in addition to the local IACUC, with a comparable expectation of 2 to 3 months for DoD-level review and approval before animal work starts. For projects relying on DoD or VA patients, databases, space, or equipment, the application must describe access and include signed letters confirming that access from appropriate authorities; the announcement cautions that some resources may require collaboration with eligible DoD or VA investigators, and that funding can be withheld or revoked if access cannot ultimately be confirmed.

Finally, the program emphasizes broad value and dissemination: proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and/or the general U.S. public, and CDMRP states an intent for information, data, and research resources generated under funded awards to be made available to the wider research community and the public when appropriate. The announcement also points applicants to recommendations from the Congressionally mandated Metastatic Cancer Task Force and encourages proposals that address those recommendations, provided they remain aligned with KCRP priorities and the specific boundaries of this award mechanism.

• 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, Translational Research Partnership 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 31, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 01, 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 3 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.

Apply for W81XWH 19 KCRP TRPA

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