DoW, Peer Reviewed Cancer, Impact Award

The Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Impact Award is administered by the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs as part of the fiscal year 2026 Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program. The program was established to support cancer research with high scientific merit and direct relevance to military health. Congress initiated the PRCRP in 2009, and appropriations from FY09 through FY25 totaled approximately $1.17 billion. The FY26 appropriation for the overall program is $165 million. The Impact Award mechanism specifically supports mature translational and clinical cancer research projects that are expected to create a near-term impact on patient care, treatment outcomes, or clinical cancer management within one of the congressionally directed topic areas. The funding opportunity requires all proposed work to directly address at least one FY26 PRCRP Topic Area and one associated strategic goal within an assigned portfolio category. Research must also demonstrate relevance to Service Members, Veterans, military families, and mission readiness. The opportunity supports research projects involving bladder cancer, blood cancers, brain cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, esophageal cancer, germ cell cancers, glioblastoma, liver cancer, lymphoma, mesothelioma, metastatic cancers, myeloma, neuroblastoma, neuroendocrine tumors, pediatric and adolescent cancers, pediatric brain tumors, sarcoma, stomach cancer, and thyroid cancer. Applications proposing research on melanoma or cancers originating in the breast, kidney, lung, pancreas, prostate, or ovary are prohibited. Rare cancers are also prohibited unless they are specifically included among the authorized PRCRP topic areas. Applicants must align proposed work with one strategic goal within one of the program portfolios, including Blood Cancers, Gastroenterological Cancers, Neurological Cancers, Pediatric Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers, Solid Tumors, or Metastatic Disease. Strategic goals span prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, survivorship, epidemiology, and technology development. Applications that fail to align both a topic area and strategic goal within a single portfolio may be administratively withdrawn. The Impact Award is intended for mature translational or clinical research projects and is not intended for basic science research. Applications are required to include preliminary data supporting the feasibility of the proposed study. Clinical trials are permitted under this funding mechanism, and applicants proposing clinical trials must demonstrate plans to initiate the trial within 12 months of the award date. The program emphasizes rigorous study design, reproducibility, and statistical planning. Applicants are expected to include detailed data analysis methods, recruitment strategies for human subjects where applicable, and plans for data sharing and dissemination. Military relevance is a major evaluation factor, and applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how the research addresses military-specific environmental exposures, mission readiness concerns, survivorship issues, or treatment gaps affecting Service Members and Veterans. Collaborations with Department of Defense laboratories, Veterans Affairs facilities, industry, and academic institutions are strongly encouraged. Eligible applicants include extramural and intramural Department of Defense organizations, domestic and foreign organizations, nonprofit and for-profit entities, public and private organizations, and institutions of higher education. Independent investigators at all career stages may serve as Principal Investigators. The program allows either a single Principal Investigator application or a Partnering PI Option involving two collaborating investigators. Under the Partnering PI Option, the Initiating PI submits the pre-application while both investigators submit separate full application packages if invited. Awards are made to organizations rather than individuals. Cost sharing is not required. The maximum period of performance is three years. Single PI applications may request up to $1.5 million in total costs, while Partnering PI applications may request up to $2.0 million in combined total costs across both awards. The program anticipates funding approximately 30 standard Impact Awards and 14 Partnering PI awards. The application process consists of two stages. First, applicants must submit a pre-application through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal. The pre-application requires a two-page narrative describing the research idea, methodology, impact, preliminary data, and military relevance, along with references and biosketches. Following programmatic screening, selected applicants receive invitations to submit full applications. Full applications are submitted either through Grants.gov for extramural organizations or through eBRAP for intramural Department of War organizations. Full applications include a detailed Project Narrative, Supporting Documentation, Technical Abstract, Lay Abstract, Statement of Work, Relevance to Military Health Statement, Impact Statement, Statistical Plan and Data Analysis, and additional attachments depending on whether clinical trials, animal studies, or military resource access are involved. Applications are evaluated through a two-tier review process consisting of peer review and programmatic review. Major review criteria include research strategy, feasibility, impact, clinical trial design if applicable, statistical methodology, personnel qualifications, and post-award transition planning. The FY26 PRCRP Impact Award uses a recurring annual funding cycle. The pre-application deadline is June 26, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and invited applicants must submit full applications by October 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Application verification concludes on October 8, 2026. Peer review is scheduled for December 2026 and programmatic review for February 2027. Awards are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2027. Investigators are encouraged to begin registration processes early because active registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eBRAP are required before submission. Questions regarding eBRAP submissions may be directed to help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507, while Grants.gov technical assistance is available through support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726. The funding opportunity number is HT942526PRCRPIPA and the Assistance Listing Number is 12.420.

Emphasize strong preliminary data and translational readiness. Clearly align the project with one PRCRP topic area and one strategic goal within the same portfolio. Demonstrate direct military health relevance and near-term patient impact. Provide rigorous statistical and reproducibility plans. Clinical trial applications should demonstrate readiness to begin within the first year.