DOD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Career Development Award Scholar Option

The Department of Defense, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), is offering the Fiscal Year 2025 Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Career Development Award – Scholar Option (CDA-SO). This award is intended to support early-career, independent investigators—referred to as Scholars—who demonstrate exceptional promise in cancer research. Administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) under Title 10 USC 4001, this funding mechanism is distinguished by its focus on mentorship, with each Scholar required to work closely with a Career Guide and participate in the Virtual Cancer Center (VCC), a unique collaborative platform for career advancement. The funding opportunity aims to advance impactful cancer research while fostering the careers of new investigators. It mandates alignment with one of the congressionally directed FY25 PRCRP topic areas and corresponding strategic goals within defined research portfolios. The topic areas include but are not limited to blood, brain, liver, stomach, lung, and pediatric cancers. However, research involving breast, prostate, ovarian, or melanoma cancers is excluded. Moreover, research must address relevance to military health by reducing the burden of cancer on Service Members, Veterans, and their families. Projects must also align with one of two FY25 PRCRP Military Health Focus Areas: environmental exposure risk factors or gaps in cancer research impacting mission readiness. Funding for this opportunity totals approximately $9.9 million, with individual awards capped at $1.1 million in total costs for a maximum performance period of four years. The CDMRP anticipates issuing nine awards with FY25 funds, which must be obligated by September 30, 2026, and used by September 30, 2031. The pre-application (Letter of Intent) is due by June 20, 2025, and full applications are due by July 3, 2025. All applicants must register with SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eBRAP.org before submission. Awards are issued as grants and are not intended to support clinical trials, though clinical research is permissible under defined guidelines. Eligible applicants include domestic and foreign, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, as well as public and private entities. Principal Investigators must be independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor, within seven years of their terminal degree (excluding clinical training or family leave), and with evidence of extramural funding and first-author publications. A Career Guide—holding a position at Associate Professor level or higher and with a demonstrated track record in cancer research and mentorship—is also required. The Career Guide must commit to participating in the VCC and may only mentor one CDA-SO applicant. The application process involves a pre-application with selection of applicable topic areas, strategic goals, and military health focus areas, followed by a full application. Required documents include a project narrative, letters of support and recommendation, technical and lay abstracts, a statement of work, a military health relevance statement, a career development plan, and various administrative forms. Evaluations will occur in two tiers: peer review and programmatic review, with final funding recommendations based on technical merit, alignment with PRCRP objectives, and impact on military health. Key contacts for the program include the eBRAP Help Desk (help@eBRAP.org, 301-682-5507) for technical and submission questions, and the Grants.gov Contact Center (support@grants.gov, 800-518-4726) for registration and platform issues. Funded applicants must meet post-award reporting and compliance requirements, including participation in the VCC, annual technical progress reports, and adherence to Department of Defense policies and oversight.

Must align precisely with FY25 topic areas and strategic goals; applications misaligned will be withdrawn. Avoid including ineligible cancers (e.g., breast, prostate, ovarian, melanoma).