Tick-Borne Disease Therapeutic/Diagnostic Research Award

The Defense Health Agency, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, released the Therapeutic/Diagnostic Research Award funding opportunity to support translational and product-driven research focused on reducing the burden of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases and conditions. The program is administered under the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity using authority provided through United States Code Title 10 Section 4001. The Tick-Borne Disease Research Program was initiated by Congress in 2016 to address significant knowledge gaps related to tick-borne illnesses affecting military personnel, Veterans, their families, and the broader American public. The program vision is to eliminate the health burden of tick-borne diseases, while the mission is to fund innovative research to prevent, detect, and resolve Lyme disease and related conditions. The Therapeutic/Diagnostic Research Award specifically supports projects that advance therapeutics and diagnostics toward clinical implementation and patient care improvement. The funding opportunity supports treatment-focused and diagnosis-focused projects. Treatment applications must involve therapeutic evaluation studies designed to advance early-stage or preclinical drug or treatment discovery concepts. Diagnosis-focused applications must propose diagnostic methods capable of integration into clinical settings and should prioritize direct detection approaches, differentiation of active versus previous infection, detection of multiple pathogens, or identification of maternal-to-fetal transmission. Applications focused on persistent Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases endemic to the United States are particularly encouraged. Projects involving publicly available compound library screening for therapeutics are considered nonresponsive. Applications centered only on pathogenesis or early discovery activities are outside the scope of this mechanism. Research supported under this program must demonstrate translational potential and provide a pathway toward improved patient care or quality of life outcomes. The Defense Health Agency expects to allocate approximately $2.65 million to fund about two awards under this opportunity. Each award may request up to $1,325,000 in total costs over a maximum period of performance of three years. Both direct and indirect costs are allowable within the cap if negotiated indirect cost rates exist. Cost sharing is not required. Travel costs are permitted for multi-institutional collaboration activities and for one scientific or technical meeting annually to disseminate project findings. Clinical trial costs are explicitly prohibited. The award mechanism supports experimental and product-oriented research including investigational new drug enabling studies, therapeutic optimization, diagnostic assay validation, and sensitivity or specificity improvement efforts. Both preclinical and clinical research involving human subjects, biospecimens, datasets, or animal studies are allowed, although clinical trials themselves are not permitted. Eligibility is broad and inclusive. Domestic and foreign organizations may apply, including nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, public and private entities, institutions of higher education, and intramural or extramural Department of War organizations. Independent investigators at all career stages may serve as Principal Investigators as long as they are affiliated with an eligible organization. Postdoctoral fellows and other mentored individuals are not considered independent investigators for this opportunity. Awards are issued to organizations rather than individuals. The program strongly encourages collaborations involving academic institutions, commercial partners, Department of War laboratories, Veterans Affairs facilities, and other federal agencies. Investigators with limited experience in tick-borne disease research are encouraged to partner with established experts in the field. The application process uses a mandatory two-step submission system consisting of a pre-application and invited full application. Pre-applications must be submitted through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal and include a two-page preproposal narrative, references cited, abbreviations list, and combined biographical sketches. Full applications are accepted only from invited applicants and must be submitted through Grants.gov for extramural applicants or eBRAP for intramural Department of War organizations. Full applications require extensive documentation including a project narrative, supporting documentation, technical and lay abstracts, statement of work, impact statement, post-award transition plan, and optional animal or human subjects plans when applicable. The review process includes compliance review, peer review, and programmatic review. Peer review evaluates research strategy, feasibility, impact, statistical rigor, transition planning, and personnel qualifications, while programmatic review considers relevance to program priorities and portfolio composition. The funding timeline for this opportunity begins with a pre-application submission deadline of July 22, 2026, followed by invitations to submit full applications on September 3, 2026. Full applications are due October 22, 2026, with an application verification period ending October 27, 2026. Peer review is expected during December 2026, and programmatic review is anticipated in February 2027. Awards are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2027. This appears to be an annual federal funding mechanism associated with the fiscal year cycle of the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program. Contact information for application and technical support includes the eBRAP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507 and the Grants.gov Support Center at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726. Applicants must maintain active registrations in SAM.gov, eBRAP, and Grants.gov prior to submission.

Emphasize translational potential and product-driven outcomes. Include strong preliminary data from the PI or collaborators. Clearly address dissemination and clinical implementation pathways. Demonstrate rigorous statistical planning, validation strategies, and mitigation plans for research risks. Align the proposal with persistent Lyme disease or endemic U.S. tick-borne disease priorities.