Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs -- Combat Readiness – Medical Research Program -- Rapid Development and Translational Research Award

Funding Agency:
Department of Defense

The CRRP seeks to enhance medical capabilities and Force readiness at the point of greatest need in order to save the most lives in trauma care scenarios, which may be complicated by combat operations, limited resources, austere conditions, and/or mass casualty events. The intent of the FY22 CRRP RDTRA is to support research that will accelerate the movement of promising ideas into clinical applications, including healthcare products, technologies, and/or practice guidelines. Research under this award mechanism should represent a rapid advancement or innovative “leap ahead” and have the potential for broadly applicable, crosscutting advances benefiting military health and medicine as well as the general public. Applicants may leverage existing resources in translational research to address high-impact research ideas or unmet needs to enable the delivery of life-saving care to the Warfighter during prolonged and en route care in austere and combat environments.

For this award mechanism, the definition of “leveraging” is as follows: An investigator basing a research project on existing resources in order to amplify potential gains in knowledge or accelerate technical maturity. Research of interest may include knowledge products, “knowledge resulting from research with the potential to improve individual or public health,”2 and solutions that can accelerate the introduction of military-relevant health products or technologies into clinical and/or operational use. Projects should take into consideration the varied expertise levels of targeted medical providers, available resources, and the possible diverse environmental conditions in combat situations. Proposal/application submissions are encouraged to include characteristics relevant to military use in the pre-hospital, combat operational setting. Submissions that propose solutions to advance civilian trauma care are not precluded, since civilian trauma and trauma care in the military are mutually influential, and may be co-occurring in certain situations.

Deadlines:

• Required Pre-Application Deadline:  June 23, 2022

• Application Submission Deadline:  Sep. 14, 2022

Agency Website

Areas of Interest

The Focus Areas were established from research priorities described in the Congressional Committee Report for the CRRP in FY22. These Focus Areas broadly describe current priorities to improve readiness for delivering frontline care in combat situations and for delivering medical damage control capability, assets, and life-saving interventions during prolonged and en route care in austere and combat environments, including the acute and early management of combatrelated trauma at the point of injury. Proposals/applications submitted to the FY22 CRRP RDTRA must address at least one of the FY22 CRRP Focus Areas listed below. Selection of the appropriate FY22 CRRP Focus Area is the responsibility of the applicant.

Funding should be used for the research and development of one of the following Focus Areas:

• Solutions to enhance Warfighter readiness, such as solutions to address: ○ Sleep disorders ○ Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) ○ Service-related post-traumatic arthritis ○ Eating disorders ○ Sarcoidosis ○ Valley fever ○ Complementary health measures to accelerate return to duty ○ Regenerative medicine

• Solutions to enhance combat care delivery throughout the far-forward environment, such as: ○ Telemedicine solutions that enable medical capabilities at far-forward battlespace locations worldwide ○ Medical simulation technology that supports sustainment of critical skills and medical decision-making ○ Blood products, including freeze-dried plasma and platelets ○ Ruggedized oxygen generation systems for medical use ○ Solutions for the assessment of mild traumatic brain injury, to include portable and handheld devices ○ Extracorporeal life support ○ Initial treatment and transport of patients with highly transmissible infectious disease

• Wound care solutions for complex trauma and tissue regeneration that span the operational medical care continuum or roles of care (e.g., acute through chronic care), such as: ○ Multi-modal wound care solutions that provide a combination of hemostasis, wound healing, infection prevention, and/or analgesia ○ Repair and restoration of genitourinary injury and tissue damage

Eligibility Requirements

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent) are eligible to be named by the organization as the PI in the proposal/application. There are no limitations on the number of proposals/applications for which an investigator may be named as a PI. An eligible PI, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or citizenship status, must be employed by, or affiliated with, an eligible organization.

Amount

$1,800,000

Amount Description

CRRP RDTRA: The period of performance of the CRRP RDTRA will be 2 years. The anticipated total costs budgeted for an FY22 CRRP RDTRA will not exceed $2.2M. This does not include the option for a third year.

CRRP RDTRA with Option (if applicable): The CRRP RDTRA with Option may be funded in two phases over a 3-year period. The first phase of performance of the CRRP RDTRA will be 2 years. The second phase will be the additional Option year, for the potential of 3 years in total. Each phase must be a distinct, but related, research effort with a non-overlapping period of performance, research outcomes/milestones, and budget. The Option must clearly be a follow-on effort stemming from the work completed during the base CRRP RDTRA. Research products from the CRRP RDTRA shall be leveraged in the subsequent option phase, if planned. The anticipated total costs budgeted will not exceed $2.2M for an FY22 CRRP RDTRA and $1.0M for the Option period of performance.

Funding Type

Award
Grant

Eligibility

Faculty
Junior Faculty
Post Doctoral Fellows

Category

Medical
Medical - Basic Science
Medical - Clinical Science
Medical - Translational

External Deadline

June 23, 2022