DoW Reconstructive Transplant, Concept Award

The Reconstructive Transplant Research Program Concept Award is a federal research funding opportunity managed by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs within Defense Health Agency Research and Development. The Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity is soliciting applications under delegated federal authority. 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 increase access to reconstructive transplants and state of the art immunotherapy. The program seeks advances in vascularized composite allotransplantation that improve access, safety, and quality of life for catastrophically injured Service Members, Veterans, and the American public. The Concept Award supports exploration of highly innovative new concepts or untested theories addressing important problems in reconstructive transplantation. It is intended for high risk studies capable of revealing new avenues of investigation rather than the logical progression of established research. Proposed work must address at least one specified focus area and accompanying subarea. Focus areas include improving or optimizing vascularized composite allotransplantation immunosuppression, identifying or validating prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers and monitoring approaches, advancing preservation strategies, and developing tools for measuring functional, patient reported, or neurocognitive outcomes. Findings from solid organ transplantation may be tested in a vascularized composite allotransplantation setting when the rationale and potential benefits are clearly justified. Preliminary data are not allowed. Clinical trials are also prohibited. Approximately 600000 dollars is expected to support approximately three Concept Award applications. Total costs for the entire period of performance may not exceed 200000 dollars per award, and the maximum period of performance is 18 months. Both direct and indirect costs count toward the total cost cap. Required direct costs include travel for the Principal Investigator to present project information or disseminate results at one Department of War sponsored meeting during the performance period. Permitted costs may include travel supporting multi institutional collaborations and costs for one investigator to attend one additional scientific or technical meeting per year for dissemination of project results. Costs for additional scientific or technical meeting travel beyond the stated limits and clinical trial costs may not be requested. Cost sharing is not required. Eligible applicants include extramural and intramural Department of War organizations and foreign and domestic organizations, including for profit, nonprofit, public, and private entities. Awards are made to eligible organizations rather than individuals. Principal Investigators must be investigators at or above the postdoctoral fellow level and affiliated with an eligible organization, without restriction based on ethnicity, nationality, or citizenship. An investigator may be named as Principal Investigator on no more than two Concept Award applications. Projects involving human subjects or anatomical substances are supported only when exempt under the applicable federal regulation or eligible for expedited review. Research that does not qualify for exemption or expedited review will be administratively withdrawn. Certain painful research involving domestic cats or dogs is prohibited except for studies involving military or service animals. Submission is a 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 focus area. A full application is then required by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 4, 2026. Extramural organizations submit full applications through Grants.gov, while intramural Department of War organizations submit through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal. Active registrations in SAM.gov, the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal, and Grants.gov are required as applicable. Major full application materials include the Project Narrative, Supporting Documentation, Statement of Work, Innovation Statement, Post Award Transition Plan, applicable representations and budget materials, senior and key person profiles, biographical sketches, current and pending support, budget information, and project performance site information. The application verification period ends at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 9, 2026. Applications undergo peer review followed by programmatic review. Peer review places greatest emphasis on innovation, followed by relevance and research strategy and feasibility, with additional consideration of personnel, the transition plan, research sharing plan, budget, environment, and application presentation. Programmatic review considers peer review evaluations, adherence to the opportunity intent, program portfolio composition, military health relevance, alignment with at least one program focus area, and relative innovation. Pre applications are used for planning and are not screened, and submission of a Letter of Intent does not require applicants to wait for an invitation before submitting a full application. Peer review is planned for January 2027 and programmatic review for March 2027. Funding recommendations are typically posted within six weeks after programmatic review, and awards using fiscal year 2026 funds will be made no later than September 30, 2027. Applicants needing submission assistance may contact the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507 regarding submission requirements, pre application assistance, or intramural submissions. Grants.gov registration and Workspace assistance is available from the Grants.gov Support Center at support@grants.gov, 800-518-4726, or international number 1-606-545-5035. There are no deadline grace periods, and failure to meet a required submission deadline results in rejection. The source does not state that this Concept Award recurs annually or on another established schedule, so no recurrence is recorded.

Make innovation the primary feature and show that the work goes beyond an incremental advance. Explicitly connect the project to at least one RTRP Focus Area and military health needs. Do not include preliminary data or propose a clinical trial. Provide a sound scientific rationale and rigorous reproducible research strategy. Address feasibility, personnel expertise, transition planning, research sharing, institutional resources, and budget appropriateness. Submit the required Letter of Intent before the full application and comply strictly with page limits, portal requirements, and deadlines.