The FY24 TBDRP Idea Development Award is intended to support conceptually innovative research that could lead to impactful discoveries or significant advancements that will accelerate progress toward reducing the burden of Lyme disease and/or other tick-borne diseases and conditions and improve patient care, and/or the quality of life for military Service Members, Veterans, and their Families, as well as the American public.
Research supported by an Idea Development Award should be conceptually innovative, introduce a new concept or question, challenge existing paradigms, approach issues from a new perspective, or exhibit other uniquely creative qualities and should not merely be a next logical step or an incremental advance on published data or ongoing research. Inclusion of preliminary data relevant to the proposed studies is neither required nor prohibited for the Idea Development Award; however, in its absence, strong rationale for achieving interpretable results must be provided.
A Career Development Option is available to eligible early-career investigators who propose to conduct impactful research under the mentorship of an experienced tick-borne disease researcher. The Idea Development Award – Career Development Option has a lower direct cost limit than the Idea Development Award, and applications submitted under the Idea Development Award – Career Development Option will be reviewed via separate, career development-specific evaluation criteria by a separate, dedicated peer review panel. Inclusion of preliminary data relevant to the proposed studies is neither required nor prohibited; however, in its absence, strong rationale for achieving interpretable results must be provided.
Deadlines:
• Pre-Application Submission Deadline: June 26, 2024
• Invitation to Submit an Application: Aug. 2024
• Application Submission Deadline: Oct. 3, 2024
To meet the intent of the funding opportunity, applications submitted to the FY24 TBDRP should be focused on Lyme disease and/or other tick-borne diseases/conditions with emphasis on reducing the public health burden of these illnesses. Particularly encouraged are applications focused on persistent Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases and conditions endemic to the United States (https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/data-summary/index.html).
Idea Development Award applications must respond to at least one of the following specific FY24 TBDRP Idea Development Award Focus Areas:
• Pathogenesis
o Studies to assess the interaction among tick-borne pathogens in mammals, and consequences on pathogen synergy and competition, immune responses, or disease severity, with an emphasis on Lyme disease and its associated co-infections
o Studies of immune evasion, host tolerance, or pathogen-host immunosuppression associated with Lyme disease and/or other tick-borne infections
o Studies of persistent clinical manifestations associated with Lyme disease, with studies providing insight into neurologic symptoms particularly encouraged
o Studies, including epidemiologic or animal studies, to evaluate the role of tick-borne diseases on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, improve understanding of congenital tick-borne infections, and/or assess the impact of maternal-to-fetal transmission of tick-borne infections
• Treatment
o Proof-of-concept studies for the development of novel therapeutics, or studies to support the repurposing of available or approved compounds for improved treatment of tick-borne diseases
o Target identification and/or validation and early refinement of therapeutic candidates, including but not limited to high throughput screening, lead optimization, and structure/activity relationship studies
• Diagnosis
o Development and optimization of innovative approaches that provide diagnostic advantages for single or multiple tick-borne pathogens, with priority given to direct detection or multiplex tests
o Development and optimization of more accurate or novel approaches capable of distinguishing active Lyme disease infection from previous exposure and/or resolution of infection
o Development and optimization of approaches for the detection/diagnosis of maternal-to-fetal transmission of Lyme disease and/or other tick-borne infections to guide treatment of resulting infection, including the development of relevant animal models
For the Idea Development Award:
Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) may be named by the organization as the PI on the application.
For the Idea Development Award – Career Development Option:
• PI
○ The PI must be an early-career research scientist, physician scientist, or other qualified clinical scientist, within 10 years of completion of their terminal degree at the time of application submission deadline (excluding time spent in residency or on family medical leave) and exhibit a strong desire to pursue a career in tick-borne diseases research. Time spent as a postdoctoral fellow is not excluded.
○ Institutional commitment to the PI’s independent career must be demonstrated, including confirmation of laboratory space and a minimum of 50% level of time and effort during the period of performance for the PI to conduct tick-borne disease research.
• Mentor
○ The mentor(s) must hold a position at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent).
○ The mentor(s) must be experienced researcher(s) as demonstrated by a recent (last 5 years) history of funding and publications in tick-borne disease research and should ideally have experience mentoring other independent scientists. Collectively, the PI/mentorship team should have demonstrated experience in the field (pathogen/disease and associated methods/technologies) of the proposed studies. The mentor(s) must demonstrate a commitment to developing the PI’s career in tick-borne disease research.
The PI and the mentor(s) do not need to be located within the same organization.
The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY24 TBDRP Idea Development Award should not exceed $525,000. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY24 TBDRP Idea Development Award – Career Development Option should not exceed $350,000. Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information.