DoW Reconstructive Transplant, Investigator-Initiated Research Award

The Department of Defense, through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, is offering the Reconstructive Transplant Research Program Investigator-Initiated Research Award under funding opportunity HT942526RTRPIIRA. Congress initiated the Reconstructive Transplant Research Program in 2012 to support research with high potential impact and exceptional scientific merit that can refine approaches to reconstructive transplantation and state-of-the-art immunotherapy. The program seeks to advance the science and clinical practice of vascularized composite allotransplantation, including transplantation of multiple tissues such as muscle, bone, nerve, and skin as a functional unit. The Investigator-Initiated Research Award supports studies with the potential to make important contributions to reconstructive transplant research, patient care, and quality of life while demonstrating a solid scientific rationale and military-relevant utility. Research may span basic through translational research, including preclinical animal studies and clinical research involving human subjects or human anatomical substances. Correlative studies associated with an existing clinical trial may also be considered, but this award may not be used to conduct clinical trials. Every project must address at least one specified program focus area and an accompanying sub-area. Focus areas concern improving or optimizing vascularized composite allotransplantation immunosuppression, identifying or validating prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers and monitoring approaches, advancing vascularized composite allotransplantation preservation strategies, and developing tools for measuring functional, patient-reported, or neurocognitive outcomes. Preliminary and/or published data relevant to reconstructive transplantation must support the research rationale. Projects must also demonstrate relevance to the health care needs of military Service Members and/or Veterans recovering from catastrophic injury and/or their Family members, caregivers, or clinicians, as well as the American public. Approximately 8 million dollars is expected to support approximately eight awards. Total costs for an application over the entire period of performance may not exceed 1 million dollars, and the maximum period of performance is three years. The full maximum amount may be requested even for a project lasting less than three years. Direct and indirect costs of subawards or contracts must be included in the primary award's direct costs, and negotiated indirect cost rates are to be applied as appropriate. The budget must include travel for the Principal Investigator to present project information or results at one Department of Defense sponsored meeting during the performance period, assumed for budgeting purposes to occur in Central Florida in Year 2. Additional allowable travel includes travel supporting multi-institutional collaboration and costs for one investigator to attend one scientific or technical meeting per year to present or disseminate project results. Costs for additional scientific or technical meeting travel beyond these limits and clinical trial costs may not be requested. Cost sharing is not required. Eligible applicants include extramural and intramural Department of Defense organizations and foreign and domestic organizations, including for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public or private entities. Awards are made to eligible organizations rather than individuals. Independent investigators at all career levels who are affiliated with an eligible organization may serve as Principal Investigator regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or citizenship status. An investigator may be named as Principal Investigator on no more than two applications under this award mechanism. Applications involving multidisciplinary collaborations among academia, industry, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies are encouraged. Applicants relying on unique resources or databases must document access at submission and provide a plan for maintaining access during the project. Submission is a mandatory two-step process. The Principal Investigator must first submit a one-page Letter of Intent through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 21, 2026. The Letter of Intent must briefly describe the proposed research and identify the applicable program focus area. A full application must then be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 4, 2026. Extramural organizations submit the full application through Grants.gov Workspace, while intramural Department of Defense organizations submit through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal. Required materials include the applicable federal application form, a Project Narrative, Supporting Documentation, Technical Abstract, Lay Abstract, Statement of Work, Impact Statement, Military Relevance Statement, Post-Award Transition Plan, budget and key personnel materials, plus conditional materials such as an Animal Research Plan, Representations, intragovernmental or intramural budget, and subaward documentation. Active registrations in SAM.gov, eBRAP.org, and Grants.gov, as applicable, should be established before submission. After submission, applicants must review and verify the application in eBRAP, with the verification period ending at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 9, 2026. Applications undergo peer review followed by programmatic review. The most important scored peer review considerations include study design and feasibility, statistical plan, impact, personnel, transition planning, and research sharing. Budget, research environment, institutional support, facilities and resources, intellectual property considerations when applicable, and application presentation also contribute as unscored criteria. Programmatic review considers peer-review evaluations, adherence to the funding opportunity's intent, program portfolio composition, relevance to military health and the specified focus areas, and relative impact. Peer review is expected in January 2027 and programmatic review in March 2027. Funding recommendations are typically posted in eBRAP within six weeks after programmatic review. Awards supported with fiscal year 2026 funds are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2027. For submission assistance, applicants may contact the eBRAP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507. Grants.gov registration and Workspace assistance is available through support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726, with international assistance at 1-606-545-5035.

Address at least one required focus area and clearly demonstrate military relevance. Include relevant preliminary and/or published data. Emphasize rigorous and reproducible study design, appropriate controls, feasibility, statistical methodology, sample size and power analysis. Clearly articulate short- and long-term impact and practical applicability. Provide strong transition and research sharing plans. Do not propose a clinical trial. Submit the mandatory LOI before the full application. Ensure the Project Narrative and Budget are present because omission results in rejection.