DoW Arthritis Translational Research Award

The Arthritis Research Program Translational Research Award is administered through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs as part of the fiscal year 2026 Arthritis Research Program. The program was established by Congress to support high-impact arthritis research that improves the health and readiness of Service Members while also benefiting Veterans, military families, and the broader public. The Arthritis Research Program was initially appropriated $10 million in FY24 and continues with a $10 million FY26 appropriation. The program vision is to lessen the burden of and ultimately cure arthritis, while the mission emphasizes supporting impactful research that improves health outcomes and military readiness. The Translational Research Award specifically supports hypothesis-driven translational and applied research intended to accelerate critical findings into clinically relevant solutions for arthritis care. The funding opportunity supports preclinical and translational research projects involving any form of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other arthritis conditions. Research addressing post-traumatic osteoarthritis is noted as particularly important for military healthcare providers. The funding mechanism does not allow basic research, clinical research, or clinical trials. Instead, applicants must propose translational or applied studies that demonstrate a direct pathway toward improving patient care or disease management. Preliminary and/or published data are required to support the feasibility and rationale for the proposed work. Applications must clearly explain how the research outcomes could advance arthritis care, improve military readiness and retention, or lessen the burden of disease among affected populations. The opportunity also encourages projects that examine sex as a biological variable, include understudied arthritis populations, or leverage large datasets and existing research consortia. Approximately two awards are expected to be funded through this opportunity, with a total anticipated allocation of approximately $1.6 million. Individual applications may request up to $800,000 in total costs for a maximum performance period of three years. Applicants may request the full amount even if the project duration is shorter than three years. Indirect costs may be included according to federally negotiated indirect cost agreements. Subaward and contract costs must be incorporated into the primary award’s direct costs. Allowable direct costs include limited travel support for multi-institution collaborations and one scientific or technical meeting annually for project dissemination purposes. The announcement specifically prohibits requests for travel beyond these limits. Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for eligibility or award consideration. Eligibility for the opportunity is broad and includes both domestic and foreign organizations, public and private institutions, nonprofit organizations, for-profit entities, intramural Department of War organizations, and extramural applicants. Independent investigators affiliated with eligible institutions may serve as Principal Investigators regardless of nationality or citizenship status. Applicants may submit no more than two applications across FY26 Arthritis Research Program award mechanisms. Awards are issued to organizations rather than directly to individuals. The funding opportunity strongly encourages collaborations involving academia, industry, Department of War organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies. Applications proposing animal research must comply with detailed reporting and rigor standards, and painful research involving domestic cats or dogs is prohibited except in studies involving military or service animals. The application process consists of a mandatory two-step submission procedure. Applicants must first submit a pre-application through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal. Only applicants invited after pre-application screening may submit a full application. Pre-applications require a one-page preproposal narrative outlining rationale, hypothesis, aims, study design, and impact, along with references and abbreviation lists. Full applications require multiple attachments including a twelve-page project narrative, supporting documentation, technical and lay abstracts, statement of work, impact statement, transition plan, and when applicable an animal research plan. Additional materials include budget forms, biographical sketches, current and pending support documents, subaward budgets, and representations forms. Extramural organizations must submit full applications through Grants.gov, while intramural Department of War organizations use eBRAP. Applicants are required to maintain active SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eBRAP registrations prior to submission. Applications undergo a multi-stage review process beginning with administrative compliance review and pre-application screening. Screening criteria include alignment with the designated focus area, strength of the research strategy, feasibility of the study design, and potential impact on arthritis care and military health. Full applications proceed through a two-tier review process consisting of peer review and programmatic review. Peer review evaluates research strategy, feasibility, statistical rigor, reproducibility, transition planning, military relevance, and impact potential. Programmatic review considers peer review scores, portfolio balance, and alignment with program priorities. The highest-scoring applications are not automatically funded, as broader programmatic considerations are also applied. Successful applicants are generally notified approximately six weeks after programmatic review through eBRAP. The opportunity follows a recurring annual funding cycle. The pre-application deadline for the FY26 cycle is July 22, 2026, followed by invitation notifications on August 27, 2026. Full applications are due October 22, 2026, with peer review scheduled for December 2026 and programmatic review planned for February 2027. Awards are expected to be issued no later than September 30, 2027, and FY26 funds remain available through September 30, 2032. Technical support is available through the eBRAP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org and 301-682-5507, while Grants.gov support is available at support@grants.gov and 800-518-4726. The funding opportunity announcement number is HT942526ATRPTRA and must be used in all communications regarding the program.

Explicitly demonstrate translational impact and clinical relevance. Include strong preliminary data and a well-supported hypothesis. Emphasize relevance to military health and arthritis burden reduction. Address rigorous and reproducible study design including controls, statistical planning, randomization, and blinding. Clearly describe a feasible transition plan toward clinical application or commercialization.