DoW Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program, Therapeutic Idea Award

The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program Therapeutic Idea Award is a federal funding opportunity administered through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The funding opportunity number is HT942526ALSRPTIA. The award mechanism is part of the fiscal year Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program portfolio and is designed to support innovative therapeutic research aimed at amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS. Congress initiated the ALS Research Program in 2007 to support research with high potential impact and exceptional scientific merit, and appropriations from FY07 through FY25 totaled more than $309 million. The FY26 appropriation for the ALS Research Program is $40 million. The stated vision of the program is to improve outcomes and find cures for people with ALS, while the mission is to accelerate research that translates scientific discoveries into effective ALS treatments. The Therapeutic Idea Award specifically supports new, innovative, high-risk and high-gain ideas related to ALS drug or therapy discovery. Projects funded through this mechanism are expected to be hypothesis-driven and capable of generating preliminary data that may support future therapeutic development studies. The announcement emphasizes that applications may succeed even without extensive preliminary data if the scientific rationale and research approach are compelling. Projects may involve investigational drugs or medical devices, but projects focused only on ALS pathophysiology without a therapeutic or device development component are outside the scope of the award. The program also requires applicants to include a biomarker development component that measures biological effects of the proposed therapeutic strategy and supports future clinical translation. Biomarker activities must directly support therapeutic development and cannot solely focus on diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. The program expects to allocate approximately $10.08 million to fund around 12 awards. Each award may request up to $840,000 in total costs for a maximum period of performance of two years. Both direct and indirect costs are allowable within the funding cap, and collaborating organizations may include indirect costs according to negotiated rates. Allowable costs include travel for collaboration activities and one scientific meeting per year for dissemination of project findings. The opportunity does not permit requests for travel beyond the stated limits. Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for eligibility. Awards are expected to be issued no later than September 30, 2027, using FY26 appropriated funds that remain available through September 30, 2032. Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and includes extramural and intramural Department of War organizations, domestic and foreign entities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, public entities and private entities. Independent investigators affiliated with eligible organizations may serve as Principal Investigators regardless of nationality or citizenship status. Investigators may not serve as PI on more than three FY26 ALS Research Program applications across all award mechanisms. The program strongly encourages multidisciplinary collaborations involving academia, industry, Department of War organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies. The announcement highlights the importance of relevance to military Service Members, Veterans and their families because ALS incidence appears elevated in Veteran populations. Clinical trials are not allowed under this funding opportunity, and animal research proposals must include a detailed Animal Research Plan consistent with ARRIVE and ALS animal model guidance standards. The application process involves two required stages. Applicants must first submit a pre-application through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal, commonly referred to as eBRAP. The pre-application deadline is June 24, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The preproposal narrative is limited to three pages and must address innovation, impact, research strategy, feasibility and biomarker rationale. Supporting documentation includes references, abbreviations and combined biosketches. Following pre-application review, selected applicants will receive invitations to submit full applications beginning August 3, 2026. Full applications are due September 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Extramural organizations must submit through Grants.gov, while intramural Department of War organizations submit through eBRAP. Full applications require numerous attachments including a 12-page project narrative, technical abstract, lay abstract, statement of work, impact statement, data and research resources sharing plan, biomarker statement and potentially an animal research plan. Applications undergo a two-tier review process consisting of peer review and programmatic review. Peer reviewers evaluate applications based on innovation, impact, research strategy and feasibility, biomarker quality and data sharing plans. Additional unscored review elements include personnel qualifications, budget appropriateness, institutional environment and clarity of presentation. Programmatic review then considers peer review outcomes together with alignment to ALS Research Program priorities, military relevance, portfolio balance and projected impact. The program announcement notes that the highest-scoring applications are not automatically selected for funding because programmatic relevance also influences final decisions. Peer review is expected in November 2026, with programmatic review anticipated in January 2027. Applicants recommended for funding typically receive notification approximately six weeks after programmatic review and receive summary statements describing strengths and weaknesses of their applications. Applicants are required to maintain active registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov and eBRAP before submission. The funding announcement warns that registrations may take several weeks and should be completed early. Questions regarding eBRAP submissions may be directed to the eBRAP Help Desk at 301-682-5507 or help@eBRAP.org, while Grants.gov support is available at 800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. The opportunity is an annual federal research program and therefore recurring in nature. The next expected cycle is likely to open in mid-2027 based on the current FY26 schedule and annual appropriations process. The official funding opportunity document also references detailed compliance requirements related to animal research, foreign affiliations, reporting obligations, research integrity and restrictions against classified or duplicative research proposals.

Emphasize highly innovative and high-gain therapeutic concepts rather than incremental research; clearly demonstrate translational relevance to ALS treatment development; include strong biomarker rationale tied to therapeutic mechanisms; ensure rigorous reproducible study design with controls blinding and statistical planning; articulate next-stage therapeutic development plans and military relevance