DoD Prostate Cancer, Physician Research Award | HT9425 23 PCRP PRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 PCRP PRA

The FY23 DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) Physician Research Award is designed to give early-career physicians a structured, mentored runway into a long-term research career focused on prostate cancer. The award is built around the idea that physicians who are actively balancing patient care and clinical responsibilities often need protected time, strong mentorship, and a clear training plan to become productive investigators. In this mechanism, the physician being mentored is the Principal Investigator (PI) and is expected to take ownership of the application and the project, writing the submission with guidance from one or more mentors. The program weighs two things equally: the strength and rigor of the proposed research project, and the quality and credibility of the PI's career development plan toward independence in prostate cancer research.

Eligibility is tailored to physicians at a very specific career stage: applicants must have clinical duties and be either (1) in the final year of an accredited residency or fellowship at the time of the application deadline, or (2) within five years of starting a faculty appointment (including Instructor roles). A key point is that applicants do not need prior experience in prostate cancer research, but they do need to convincingly show commitment to becoming an investigator working at the intersection of research and clinical practice. Because the program is meant to make research time realistically possible for busy clinicians, applications are strongly encouraged to document at least 40 percent protected effort for prostate cancer research. That protected time does not have to be supported only by this specific award and can include time devoted to other prostate cancer research efforts, but the expectation is that the PI will have meaningful, sustained bandwidth to do the work and develop as a researcher.

Mentorship is not optional in this mechanism. Each application must include at least one designated mentor with an established prostate cancer research program, demonstrated through recent publications, current funding, and a track record of effective mentorship. Beyond credentials, the mentor is expected to show real commitment to advancing the PI's research career, not simply providing nominal supervision. The structure also anticipates that some projects will require resources or expertise outside the PI's home institution; when a collaborating institution is essential to success, the PI is encouraged to name a co-mentor at that partner site to strengthen training, oversight, and access to specialized infrastructure.

On the research side, proposed projects must address one or more FY23 PCRP Overarching Challenges, meaning the topic needs to map directly to program-defined priority problems in prostate cancer rather than being loosely related. Reviewers expect a well-justified scientific rationale, thoughtful experimental or analytical design, and a clear, feasible plan that shows how the aims can realistically be completed. Preliminary data are encouraged but not required, which makes the mechanism accessible to clinicians transitioning into the field; if preliminary results are included, they must come from the PI, the mentor(s), or collaborators. Applicants also need to clearly identify required resources and support access claims with documentation, such as letters confirming availability of datasets, specimens, core facilities, or other critical capabilities.

Human-subjects research is allowed, but the award draws a firm boundary around clinical trials. Studies may involve patient interaction, patient samples, and clinical data, including observational and patient-oriented work such as biomarker development, diagnostic approaches, mechanisms of disease in humans, health disparities, epidemiology, behavioral research, outcomes research, and health services research, as long as they do not prospectively assign participants to interventions to measure safety, efficacy, or effectiveness. Correlative studies linked to an existing clinical trial are particularly encouraged, provided they are determined to be no greater than minimal risk by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and by the USAMRDC human research oversight offices. In other words, you can leverage clinical trial contexts for samples or associated data analyses, but you cannot run a new intervention trial under this award.

A central required component is the individualized Researcher Development Plan. This is essentially the career blueprint, built with mentor input, that lays out how the PI will gain the skills and expertise needed to complete the project and transition toward independence in prostate cancer research. The application must describe an environment that supports both the science and the mentoring, and it can address gaps through formal collaborations if the home institution lacks certain resources. This makes the mechanism flexible for applicants who may have strong clinical environments but need external research mentorship, advanced analytics support, specialized model systems, or access to particular patient populations.

Impact is framed in mission-driven terms: the project should not only address one or more Overarching Challenges, but also have a credible path to reducing death and suffering from prostate cancer and improving well-being for Service members, Veterans, and all affected patients and families. To strengthen translational relevance and reproducibility, applicants are encouraged to incorporate practices like cell line authentication, statistical rigor in animal studies, and experiments that test clinical relevance and translatability. The program also signals strong interest in modern, data-intensive research using large patient datasets with long-term records, biospecimen repositories, and state-of-the-art genomic or proteomic methods, bioinformatics, or mathematical modeling. When a project depends on special datasets, cohorts, or platforms, the agency strongly encourages letters of support that explicitly confirm access and availability.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, awards are made as assistance agreements, meaning the DoD may issue either a grant or a cooperative agreement depending on how much substantial involvement the agency anticipates during performance. If no substantial involvement is expected, it proceeds as a grant; if the DoD expects active collaboration, participation, or intervention, it becomes a cooperative agreement, with those roles spelled out in the award. The anticipated budget is up to $750,000 in total direct costs across the full period of performance. Program leadership projected approximately $7.2 million total to fund about six awards, with final selections dependent on federal fund availability and application quality through scientific and programmatic review. Awards were expected to be made by September 30, 2024, and FY23 funds associated with awards are expected to remain available for use until September 30, 2029, consistent with fiscal-year funding rules.

Finally, the opportunity includes several compliance expectations that matter for planning timelines. Any DoD-funded research involving human data, specimens, or subjects must undergo an additional DoD-level administrative review through USAMRDC OHARO/OHRO before work can begin, on top of local IRB review, and applicants are advised to plan for up to about three months for that process after submitting complete documentation. For multi-site, non-exempt cooperative research in the U.S., a single-IRB plan is required, consistent with 45 CFR 46.114(b), and the application should identify the lead institution responsible for the master protocol and consent materials. If animals are involved, projects must also receive review through ACURO in addition to local IACUC approval, and applicants are advised to budget three to four months for that review. Across preclinical studies, the program emphasizes rigorous, reproducible design and reporting practices, pointing applicants to established standards such as randomization, blinding, sample-size justification, careful data handling, and ARRIVE guideline alignment.

• 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, Physician 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 03, 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 6 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 HT9425 23 PCRP PRA

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