Lung Cancer Translational Research Award

The Lung Cancer Research Program Translational Research Award is offered through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity and administered by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs as part of the Lung Cancer Research Program. The program was established to support innovative and competitive lung cancer research with a focus on improving prevention, detection, diagnosis, management, survivorship, and treatment outcomes for lung cancer patients. The fiscal year appropriation for the Lung Cancer Research Program is $20 million, and the Translational Research Award mechanism is specifically intended to accelerate the movement of promising lung cancer discoveries toward clinical application. The funding opportunity excludes projects focused solely on mesothelioma and requires all proposed projects to address at least one designated area of emphasis related to lung cancer biology, prevention, detection, treatment, prognosis, survivorship, or health disparities. The overall vision of the program is to eradicate deaths and suffering from lung cancer for Service Members, Veterans, their families, and the broader public. The Translational Research Award supports advanced translational research and is divided into two funding levels. Funding Level 1 supports advanced or late-stage preclinical studies, correlative studies connected to ongoing or completed clinical trials, and projects designed to prepare for clinical trials or regulatory submissions such as Investigational New Drug applications. Funding Level 2 supports pilot clinical trials involving novel interventions where limited human testing is necessary to determine future clinical development. Applicants must demonstrate strong preliminary lung cancer-relevant data and provide clear evidence that the proposed work is sufficiently mature for translational advancement. Research proposals are expected to bridge laboratory findings and clinical implementation through reciprocal movement between bench and bedside research approaches. The funding mechanism encourages multidisciplinary collaboration among academia, industry, Department of War organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other government entities. Funding Level 1 applications may request up to $1,350,000 in total costs over a maximum performance period of three years. Funding Level 2 applications may request up to $1,850,000 in total costs over a maximum performance period of four years. The program expects to fund approximately six awards across both levels using approximately $9.1 million in total program funding. Indirect costs are allowable in accordance with negotiated institutional rates, and all subaward indirect costs must be included within the primary award budget. The program does not require cost sharing or matching contributions. Allowable direct costs include travel related to multi-institutional collaborations and support for one investigator to attend one scientific or technical meeting annually for dissemination of project findings. Applications are evaluated in part on the appropriateness and reasonableness of the requested budget relative to the scope of work proposed. Eligibility is broad and includes foreign and domestic organizations, nonprofit and for-profit entities, public and private institutions, and intramural Department of War organizations. Independent investigators at any career stage affiliated with eligible organizations may serve as Principal Investigator regardless of nationality or citizenship status. However, an investigator may only submit one application per funding level under this funding opportunity. Awards are made to institutions rather than individuals. Applications demonstrating relevance to military health are strongly encouraged, including projects involving military or Veteran populations, collaborations with military or Veterans Affairs investigators, or research addressing environmental or occupational lung cancer risks affecting Service Members and military beneficiaries. The application process consists of a mandatory two-step submission process involving a pre-application followed by an invited full application. Pre-applications must be submitted through the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal and include a two-page preproposal narrative, relevance-to-military-health questions, references, abbreviations list, and biographical sketches. The preproposal narrative must describe the scientific rationale, study design, translational relevance, feasibility, preliminary data, and expected impact of the project. Full applications are by invitation only and must be submitted either through Grants.gov for extramural organizations or eBRAP for intramural Department of War organizations. Required full application materials include a detailed project narrative, supporting documentation, technical abstract, lay abstract, statement of work, impact statement, transition plan, and, if applicable, a clinical trial strategy, animal research plan, military relevance statement, and budget forms. Applications proposing clinical trials under Funding Level 2 must include a comprehensive clinical trial strategy attachment describing methodology, endpoints, enrollment, recruitment, regulatory planning, statistical analysis, and inclusion of women and minorities. Applications undergo a multi-stage review process consisting of compliance review, peer review, and programmatic review. Pre-applications are screened based on relevance to military health, translational potential, feasibility, impact, and responsiveness to the program areas of emphasis. Full applications are scored according to research strategy and feasibility, clinical trial strategy if applicable, impact, statistical analysis, transition planning, and personnel qualifications. Additional unscored criteria include research sharing plans, institutional environment, budget appropriateness, and presentation quality. Programmatic review additionally considers portfolio balance, military relevance, and alignment with Lung Cancer Research Program priorities. Successful applicants can expect funding recommendations to be posted in eBRAP approximately six weeks after programmatic review, and peer review summary statements will also be provided. Awards are anticipated to be issued no later than September 30, 2027. Key deadlines for the current cycle include a pre-application submission deadline of June 23, 2026, an invitation notification date of July 30, 2026, and a full application submission deadline of September 2, 2026. The application verification period closes September 4, 2026. Peer review is expected in October 2026, followed by programmatic review in January 2027. The funding opportunity is recurring as part of the annual Lung Cancer Research Program appropriations process. Applicants must maintain active registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eBRAP before submission. Questions regarding eBRAP submissions may be directed to the eBRAP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507, while Grants.gov registration and submission assistance is available through support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726.

Provide strong preliminary lung cancer-relevant data demonstrating translational readiness;Clearly connect the project to at least one FY26 LCRP Area of Emphasis;Demonstrate military health relevance through Veteran or Service Member applicability;Include rigorous statistical and reproducibility planning;Provide a feasible transition strategy toward clinical implementation or commercialization