DoW Epilepsy Virtual Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Research Center Leadership Award

The Defense Health Agency, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), is offering the Epilepsy Research Program Virtual Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Research Center Leadership Award. This funding opportunity is designed to support the leadership structure of a virtual research center focused on post-traumatic epilepsy, a condition that can develop following traumatic brain injury. The program builds on a broader federal initiative established by Congress to improve understanding, prevention, and treatment of post-traumatic epilepsy, with an emphasis on outcomes relevant to military service members, veterans, and the general public. The purpose of this award is to fund a Director and Deputy Director who will lead the Virtual Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Research Center. This center is structured as a collaborative, mentoring-focused environment that supports early-career investigators and those new to the field. The leadership team is responsible for fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, facilitating networking opportunities, and guiding the professional development of participating researchers. The program emphasizes building a sustainable pipeline of highly productive investigators who can contribute to advancing research and improving patient care. Funding for this opportunity is capped at a total of 1.6 million dollars across both the Director and Deputy Director awards combined, with a maximum performance period of four years. The funding supports activities such as organizing workshops, maintaining virtual collaboration infrastructure, supporting advisory and lived-experience panels, and facilitating travel for leadership participation in scientific meetings. Certain costs, such as tuition and travel for faculty awardees, are explicitly disallowed. Cost sharing is not required for this program. Eligibility is broad in terms of organization type, including domestic and international entities across public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors. However, principal investigators must meet specific qualifications, including being independent researchers with an established track record in post-traumatic epilepsy research, including prior funding and peer-reviewed publications. The program requires a partnership model, with one initiating principal investigator serving as Director and one partnering principal investigator serving as Deputy Director, each submitting coordinated but separate application components. The application process follows a two-step submission model. Applicants must first submit a pre-application in the form of a letter of intent through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal. Following this, a full application must be submitted through either Grants.gov or eBRAP, depending on the applicant’s organizational type. The full application includes a comprehensive project narrative, supporting documentation, abstracts, a statement of work, impact statement, and multiple additional attachments detailing evaluation plans, collaboration strategies, and leadership structure. Applications are evaluated through a two-tier review process consisting of peer review and programmatic review. Peer review assesses technical merit based on criteria such as leadership vision, management approach, evaluation plans, and integration of lived-experience perspectives. Programmatic review considers alignment with program priorities, portfolio balance, and overall impact. The review process includes specific timelines, with peer review occurring in October and programmatic review in December following submission. Key deadlines include a pre-application submission due in early August and a full application deadline in mid-August. Awards are expected to be finalized by late September of the following year, with funds expiring several years thereafter. The leadership team is expected to begin their roles by the award initiation deadline and will be responsible for ongoing reporting, participation in progress reviews, and compliance with federal research requirements. Support contacts are available through eBRAP and Grants.gov help desks for technical and submission-related inquiries.

Strongly emphasize leadership vision and interdisciplinary collaboration; clearly define Director and Deputy Director roles; include robust evaluation metrics for faculty and center performance; demonstrate meaningful integration of lived experience consultants; align proposal with military health relevance and ERP goals