DoD, Melanoma, Team Science Award | HT942524MRPTSA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT942524MRPTSA

The DoD Melanoma Team Science Award (TSA) is a U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) grant opportunity designed to push melanoma research forward through true, tightly integrated collaboration. The program is built around the idea that certain melanoma problems move faster when multiple investigators and institutions combine complementary strengths in a way that cannot be replicated by separate, parallel projects. Applications are expected to show that each partner brings a distinct capability or perspective, and that the overall progress of the project depends on that interdependence rather than on loosely connected contributions.

A central expectation is a clearly described multidisciplinary team structure with well-defined, synergistic components. The proposal should lay out exactly how the different principal investigators (PIs), sites, and disciplines will interact, coordinate decisions, share resources, and integrate findings. Reviewers will be looking for concrete plans for communication and collaboration, not just a list of collaborators. The team, taken as a whole, should include the right breadth of expertise to address the research question effectively, reflecting a deliberate approach to assembling the scientific, technical, and translational skills needed for the work.

Because cross-institution work often runs into practical barriers, participating institutions are also expected to be prepared to handle intellectual property and materials issues in a way that supports cooperation. In other words, the program signals that high-functioning collaboration is not optional: institutions should be willing to resolve ownership, sharing, and administrative obstacles so the science can move without being slowed down by preventable roadblocks.

Several team composition elements are encouraged, though not mandatory. First, the program strongly encourages including at least one person (an investigator, key personnel member, or consultant) who can speak to the practical utility of the anticipated outcomes for the melanoma field and/or patient care, whether in the near term or longer term. Second, the inclusion of an early-career investigator is encouraged, defined here as an independent researcher or physician-scientist within seven years of their first faculty appointment by the full application deadline; trainees in mentored roles such as postdoctoral fellows cannot serve as a PI on this award. Third, including a military and/or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) investigator is encouraged. If a military or VA investigator is included as a PI, they are expected to play a substantial scientific role rather than being added mainly to enable access to active-duty or VA patient populations.

On the impact side, applications must make a clear case for how the proposed work will advance melanoma research and/or improve patient care. The DoD is explicitly looking for outcomes that help move promising ideas toward clinical application or that meaningfully improve the state of the science or technology in melanoma. The research must align with at least one of the FY24 Melanoma Research Program (MRP) Focus Areas referenced in the full announcement (Section II.A.1), so applicants need to map their aims directly to those priorities rather than relying on general relevance to melanoma.

Feasibility is also emphasized through a preliminary data requirement. Applicants must include preliminary results that support the likelihood the project can be executed successfully. Those data do not have to come from melanoma specifically, but they must credibly support the approach, methods, or platform being proposed. Any unpublished preliminary data included in the application must come from the laboratory of at least one PI or another member of the research team, reinforcing that the team itself must have a real foundation for the work rather than leaning on outside, unverifiable findings.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant (Funding Opportunity Number HT942524MRPTSA) under CFDA 12.420, offered by the Department of the Army through USAMRAA. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, and the opportunity anticipated making about seven awards. The original closing date for the opportunity was August 26, 2024.

• The Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD, Melanoma, Team Science 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 2024-05-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-26. (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 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for HT942524MRPTSA

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