DoD Prostate Cancer Idea Development Award | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) Idea Development Award (IDA) is a long-running grant mechanism aimed at backing genuinely new and creative prostate cancer research concepts that could meaningfully advance the PCRP mission. First offered in FY1997, it has a substantial track record, with thousands of applications submitted over the years and a meaningful subset recommended for funding, which signals both strong competition and a clear program commitment to supporting high-impact ideas. For FY2014, the opportunity is administered through the Department of the Army (USAMRAA) under Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-14-PCRP-IDA, and it is listed under CFDA 12.420 (Military Medical Research and Development). The award instrument is a grant/cooperative agreement under the broad category of science and technology research and development, with an estimated total program funding level of about $21.8 million and an expected 42 awards.

The central theme of this award is innovation. Projects are expected to propose bold, imaginative approaches to prostate cancer research rather than small, incremental extensions of already published work. The program frames "innovative" broadly: it can mean introducing a new paradigm, challenging an accepted one, applying a fresh lens to an old problem, or combining ideas and methods in an unusually creative way. Because novel work can carry more uncertainty, the solicitation makes room for appropriate scientific risk, but it also emphasizes that the proposal still needs a solid scientific rationale grounded in logical reasoning and/or a careful synthesis of the existing literature. Preliminary data are encouraged because they can strengthen confidence in feasibility, but they are not required, which is consistent with the award's purpose of seeding earlier-stage but potentially transformative ideas.

The solicitation is intentionally open to a wide range of disciplines and approaches. It invites applications not only from traditional biomedical and basic science fields, but also from engineering, bioinformatics, population science, translational research, and clinical research, reflecting an interest in cross-cutting solutions and new toolsets. At the programmatic level, applicants are expected to align their proposed work with at least one PCRP focus area and are strongly encouraged to address one of the PCRP overarching challenges. If a proposal does not map cleanly onto an overarching challenge, the applicant is expected to make a clear case for why the work still addresses a critical need in prostate cancer research and/or patient care, essentially requiring applicants to justify relevance and potential impact even when the fit is not obvious.

A notable feature of the FY2014 IDA is a structured emphasis on early-career participation through a New Investigator category. This track is designed for investigators early in faculty appointments or otherwise still establishing independence, allowing them to compete in a separate review pool from established investigators. New Investigator applications are reviewed and considered programmatically as their own group, which is intended to reduce direct head-to-head competition with more established labs that may have deeper track records and larger infrastructures. At the same time, New Investigators are strongly encouraged to build collaborations with prostate cancer-experienced researchers or others who can add key expertise. The burden is on the PI to explain how each collaboration strengthens the project and fills gaps in experience or capability. Eligibility for the New Investigator track is governed by specific criteria referenced in the opportunity's eligibility section.

In terms of human research, the funding opportunity allows studies involving human subjects but draws a firm line against clinical trials under this mechanism. In other words, applicants can conduct human subjects research as long as it does not constitute a clinical trial. The program is particularly supportive of correlative studies tied to an already existing clinical trial, as long as those correlative components are judged to be no greater than minimal risk by the responsible Institutional Review Board (IRB) and by the USAMRMC human research protections offices (ORP/HRPO). The announcement also points applicants to a human subjects resource document within the CDMRP eBRAP system for definitions and clarifying guidance, which matters because whether a study is categorized as a clinical trial can affect allowability and compliance requirements.

Applicants are also encouraged to leverage existing PCRP-supported resources when relevant, especially for projects that rely on retrospectively collected human specimens and linked data. Two highlighted resources are the Prostate Cancer Biorepository Network (PCBN) and the North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP). This emphasis signals that the program values efficient use of high-quality shared resources, potentially faster startup timelines, and research designs that can capitalize on well-characterized cohorts and biospecimens.

Finally, the opportunity underscores a data and resource sharing expectation. CDMRP indicates an intent for data and research resources generated with these funds to be made available to the broader research community, including consumer advocacy communities, as well as to the public. This is consistent with a broader push toward transparency and reuse, and applicants are directed to the general application instructions for detailed guidance on what that means in practice.

Administrative details in the notice indicate the opportunity was posted May 6, 2014, with a closing date of September 24, 2014 (archived October 24, 2014). Eligibility is described as unrestricted in the summary listing, meaning it is broadly open to different entity types, subject to any additional clarifications in the full announcement. No cost sharing or matching is required. For access issues, the CDMRP Help Desk is provided as the primary support contact.

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