DoD Prostate Cancer, Early Investigator Research Award | HT9425 23 PCRP EIRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 PCRP EIRA

The FY23 DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) Early Investigator Research Award is designed to help postdoctoral researchers launch an independent career trajectory in prostate cancer research while working under the close guidance of one or more established mentors. The central idea is to give an early-career scientist the chance to lead a prostate cancer-focused project from concept through execution, build a strong foundation of skills and credentials, and mature into a competitive, independent investigator. Even though the work is mentored, the postdoctoral applicant is treated as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the application, and the expectation is that the PI personally authors the full application package, using the mentor team for direction and strategic support rather than as the primary drivers of the proposal.

Eligibility and fit are tightly aligned to “early investigator” status. The PI must be a postdoctoral investigator with no more than 3 years of postdoctoral research experience as of March 31, 2024, with clinical residency or clinical fellowship time explicitly excluded from that calculation. Prior prostate cancer research experience is not required, but the PI must clearly demonstrate strong potential and a genuine commitment to building a career at the forefront of prostate cancer research. The program also signals a strong interest in developing talent in health disparities research: applicants who show a commitment to prostate cancer health equity and disparity-focused work are strongly encouraged, which effectively makes disparity-related proposals and career plans especially responsive to the program’s direction.

Mentorship is a required backbone of the award. Each application must include at least one mentor with demonstrated prostate cancer research and mentoring experience, supported by evidence such as active funding, recent peer-reviewed publications, and a track record of successfully guiding trainees. A primary mentor may be a junior faculty member, but in that case the program encourages adding a secondary mentor with a deeper or more established record in prostate cancer research and mentorship to strengthen both scientific oversight and career development support. If the research is centered on health disparities, the expectation is that the mentor team includes at least one person with direct experience in prostate cancer health disparity research. Beyond credentials, mentors are expected to show real commitment to moving the PI toward independence, not simply supervising a project.

On the science side, the proposed research must address one or more of the FY23 PCRP Overarching Challenges, and projects that directly advance health equity and reduce disparities in prostate cancer are particularly encouraged. Reviewers will be looking for a clear scientific rationale, thoughtful experimental design, and methods that show the applicant has deeply analyzed the research problem. Feasibility matters: the proposal should lay out a realistic plan for accomplishing the aims within the award period, explain how key technical or logistical hurdles will be handled, and clearly identify the resources required. Preliminary data can be included but is not mandatory; if provided, it should come from the PI, the mentor(s), or collaborators on the team. Research involving human subjects, human data, and human anatomical substances is allowed, but clinical trials are explicitly not allowed under this mechanism.

A major distinguishing feature of this opportunity is the required Researcher Development Plan. The PI must present an individualized plan that is clearly prostate cancer-focused and maps out how they will gain the skills, expertise, and professional development needed to complete the project and transition toward independence. The plan should describe the mentoring environment, training activities, and how the institution and collaborators will support the PI’s growth. If the home institution lacks certain resources or mentorship depth, the program allows those gaps to be addressed through collaborations, including use of resources at other institutions. When a collaborating institution is essential for key resources, the PI is strongly encouraged to name a co-mentor at that partner site, reinforcing accountability and day-to-day access to expertise.

The announcement also emphasizes research rigor, reproducibility, and translational relevance. Applicants are encouraged, where appropriate, to include cell line authentication plans, strong statistical rigor for animal studies, and experiments that help demonstrate clinical relevance and potential translatability. The program is receptive to modern, data-rich approaches as well, encouraging studies that leverage large patient datasets with long-term health records, biospecimen repositories, and existing research resources, especially when paired with state-of-the-art genomic/proteomic analyses, bioinformatics, or mathematical modeling. Because feasibility and access can make or break these projects, applicants are strongly encouraged to include letters of support documenting access to critical datasets, specimens, cores, or other enabling resources.

From an award administration standpoint, funding is issued as an assistance agreement, meaning it is intended to support a public purpose rather than procure goods or services for the government’s direct use. The award may be structured either as a grant or as a cooperative agreement, depending on the anticipated level of DoD involvement during the project. If no substantial involvement is expected, it will generally be a grant; if substantial involvement is anticipated (for example, collaboration or participation by the funding agency in aspects of the research), it may be issued as a cooperative agreement, with the nature of that involvement specified during negotiation.

Programmatically, the DoD highlights broader priorities that applicants may align with. As part of the congressionally mandated Metastatic Cancer Task Force efforts, applicants are encouraged to review the Task Force recommendations and propose research ideas that fit those recommendations as long as they also fit the PCRP priorities and the limitations of this specific award (including the prohibition on clinical trials). The program also strongly encourages collaborations between military or Veteran institutions and non-military institutions, emphasizing the value of combining infrastructure, expertise, and access to unique clinical populations to generate findings relevant to Warfighters, military families, Veterans, and the broader public.

In terms of funding scale and competitiveness, the anticipated direct cost budget for the entire period of performance should not exceed $300,000. The program expected to allocate about $7.2 million total to make roughly 15 awards, with the standard caveat that final funding depends on federal funds availability, application volume, and the outcome of scientific and programmatic review. Awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2024, and the FY23 funds associated with these awards are expected to remain available for use until they expire on September 30, 2029, which matters for the overall federal funding lifecycle and closeout windows.

Finally, applicants need to plan for compliance and regulatory timelines if their work involves humans or animals. Any DoD-funded work involving human data, human specimens, human subjects, or cadavers must undergo review by the USAMRDC Office of Human and Animal Research Oversight (OHARO), specifically the Office of Human Research Oversight (OHRO), in addition to local IRB or ethics review. Local IRB approval is not required at application submission, but it is required before OHRO review can occur, and applicants should expect up to about 3 months for OHRO review after all complete documents are submitted. For multi-site, non-exempt human subjects research in the US, a single IRB plan is required under 45 CFR 46.114(b), and the application or negotiations must identify how reliance arrangements will be handled and which institution will serve as the central IRB point of contact. For animal research, projects must also be reviewed by ACURO in addition to the local IACUC, with an estimated 3 to 4 months for ACURO review. Across both human and animal work, the program stresses rigorous study design and transparent reporting, referencing widely used standards like Landis et al. for preclinical rigor and the ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines for in vivo animal research reporting expectations.

• 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, Early Investigator 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 15 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 EIRA

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