DOD Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellowship Award | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The DOD Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellowship Award is a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) funding opportunity designed to support outstanding recent MD or doctoral graduates as they complete postdoctoral training focused on innovative, high-impact breast cancer research. The core purpose of the award is career development: it is meant to help early-career scientists build the research skills, publication record, and professional momentum needed to become independent investigators working at the forefront of breast cancer research. The program has a long history, first offered in FY93, and by the time of this announcement it had received 1,586 postdoctoral-level proposals (including fellowships and traineeships), with 525 recommended for funding, which signals both an established track record and a competitive selection process.

A defining feature of this mechanism is that the postdoctoral trainee is treated as the Principal Investigator (PI). That means the applicant is expected to take intellectual ownership of the proposed work and write the project narrative, with appropriate guidance from a mentor. Prior experience in breast cancer research is not required for the PI, but the research itself must be clearly centered on breast cancer. Reviewers are looking for convincing evidence that the candidate has the potential to become an independent breast cancer researcher, based on the applicant's qualifications, personal characteristics, achievements to date, and strong letters of recommendation.

Mentorship and the training setting are central to how this award is evaluated. The mentor (or co-mentor) is expected to have the expertise and experience needed to guide rigorous breast cancer research, including a record of peer-reviewed breast cancer funding and publications, and to demonstrate a clear commitment to the PI's training and development. Applications are expected to describe the mentor's experience conducting innovative research and to lay out concretely how the mentor will support the fellow's research direction, skill-building, and progression toward independence. If the primary mentor does not have a strong background in breast cancer research, the program requires a formal co-mentorship arrangement with an established breast cancer researcher to ensure the trainee receives disease-relevant guidance and access to appropriate scientific networks.

The proposal is also expected to present a coherent training plan and research project that fit the goals of the mechanism. Applicants must explain why the project is well-suited to a postdoctoral period, how it will advance breast cancer science, and how the planned training will build the fellow's capabilities for an independent career. Just as importantly, the application should describe the research and training environment, emphasizing how the institution, laboratory resources, collaborators, and professional development opportunities will support the candidate's growth into an independent investigator. Multidisciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged, reflecting the program's interest in proposals that integrate multiple fields or methods to address breast cancer problems, though a multidisciplinary structure is not mandatory.

In administrative terms, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-09-BCRP-POSTDOC) is offered by the Department of the Army through USAMRAA under CFDA 12.420 (Military Medical Research and Development). It is a discretionary program using grant and cooperative agreement instruments, with no cost-sharing requirement. The announcement anticipated approximately 25 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $8,000,000. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity, subject to any clarifications in the full announcement). For this specific posting cycle, the opportunity was posted January 21, 2009, with an original and current closing date of March 11, 2009, and an archive date of April 10, 2009. Contact points provided include CDMRP and eReceipt help resources for applicants needing technical assistance or access to the full announcement.

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Previous opportunity: DOD Breast Cancer Predoctoral Traineeship Award

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