DoD Lung Cancer Clinical Exploration Award | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The DoD Lung Cancer Clinical Exploration Award (CEA) is a funding opportunity under the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) designed to push forward early, proof-of-principle clinical work that could meaningfully change how lung cancer is treated. The program emphasizes hypothesis-driven, innovative interventions aimed at overcoming real clinical barriers in lung cancer management. The intent is not to fund large definitive trials right away, but to generate strong clinical and biological evidence that an approach is worth advancing into larger, efficacy-focused studies that could ultimately shift standards of care. Since the mechanism was introduced in FY2013, it has been relatively selective, with 35 applications received and 5 recommended for funding at the time this notice was released, signaling a competitive award that prioritizes impactful ideas and credible early clinical testing plans.

This opportunity supports two main project types. The first is the Clinical Trials category, which funds early-stage clinical testing in lung cancer, specifically Phase 0, Phase I, or pilot Phase II studies. These trials can involve drugs or drug combinations, Class II or Class III medical devices, or other trial types that fit the early exploratory purpose. A key requirement is that the approach being tested should be novel and "outside the box" in the context of lung cancer, meaning it should represent a meaningful conceptual advance rather than an incremental tweak. At the same time, the program explicitly allows applicants to repurpose therapies that are already in clinical use or being tested in other diseases, as long as the proposed lung cancer application would plausibly create a major advancement in treatment. The underlying theme is high-risk, high-reward early clinical exploration grounded in a clear hypothesis and a plan to produce interpretable, decision-enabling results.

The second supported project type is the Correlative Studies category. This track is meant for hypothesis-based correlative studies that build on clinical trials that are ongoing or already completed but funded through other sources. Rather than paying for the parent clinical trial itself, the CEA in this category supports the kind of embedded or follow-on translational research that can explain why a therapy works, who it works for, and what biological changes it triggers in lung cancer. The goal is practical clinical insight: improving treatment strategies, identifying patient subsets most likely to benefit, understanding mechanisms of action or resistance, characterizing immune responses tied to progression or response, and developing or validating biomarkers that can predict prognosis, therapeutic response, or disease progression. Examples listed in the announcement include biomarker analyses, studies of drug mechanism and resistance, immune response profiling, and tumor antigen characterization that could inform improved therapies.

From an applicant and collaboration standpoint, eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the announcement is open to a wide range of organizations, subject to any clarifications in the full text. However, the DoD makes a strong programmatic push for involvement from military-relevant research environments. Submissions from, and partnerships with, investigators at military treatment facilities, military laboratories, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and research labs are explicitly encouraged. This reflects the DoD interest in strengthening networks that connect civilian lung cancer research with military and veteran health systems, and in ensuring that promising interventions can be tested and translated in settings relevant to service members and veterans.

Administratively, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-15-LCRP-CEA) was issued by the Department of the Army through USAMRAA, with funding offered as grants and cooperative agreements under CFDA 12.420 (Military Medical Research and Development). The program anticipated making about 4 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $2.24 million, and it did not require cost sharing or matching. The posting date was April 8, 2015, with an original and final closing date of September 16, 2015, and an archive date of October 16, 2015. Additional guidance on clinical trial definitions, phases, and related human subjects considerations is referenced through the Human Subject Resource Document available via eBRAP, and applicants needing help with the electronic announcement were directed to the CDMRP Help Desk (help@eBRAP.org, 301-682-5507).

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Previous opportunity: FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO programs benefiting urban refugees in South Africa.

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