DoW Arthritis Clinical Research Award

The FY26 Arthritis Research Program Clinical Research Award is offered through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity and managed by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs as part of the Arthritis Research Program. The opportunity is intended to support clinical research that evaluates disease-specific factors and interventions related to arthritis, with the goal of generating clinically useful evidence that can optimize patient outcomes and inform clinical care or policy decisions. Congress initiated the Arthritis Research Program in 2024 to support high-impact arthritis research relevant to military readiness, retention, recovery, and long-term quality of life for Service Members, Veterans, their Families, and the broader public. The program supports research across all forms of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other arthritis subtypes, while encouraging studies focused on underserved populations and sex as a biological variable. Applications must address one of two focus areas. The first focus area is Prevention and Early Diagnosis, which includes identifying predictors of disease onset or progression and developing technologies, solutions, or knowledge products that prevent arthritis. The second focus area is Treatment and Mitigation of Disease Progression/Burden, which includes evaluating interventions that address pain, symptoms, function, psychosocial factors, comorbidities, and the pathologic burden associated with arthritis. Applicants are required to select both a focus area and a primary arthritis subtype during submission. The funding opportunity emphasizes clinical impact, military relevance, reproducibility, and translation into clinical practice or policy. The program specifically encourages the use of existing datasets, collaborations with federal agencies or industry, and multidisciplinary teams capable of advancing clinically meaningful research. The opportunity includes two funding levels. Research Level 1 supports clinical research or early-phase and pilot clinical trials involving emerging research not yet ready for full randomized controlled trials. Research Level 2 supports full-scale clinical trials. The Department of Defense anticipates approximately 7.15 million dollars in total program funding, with approximately three awards anticipated for Research Level 1 and one award anticipated for Research Level 2. Research Level 1 applications may request up to 1.3 million dollars in total costs, while Research Level 2 applications may request up to 3.25 million dollars in total costs. Both funding levels permit a maximum period of performance of four years. Indirect costs may be requested according to negotiated institutional rates. Travel costs supporting collaboration and dissemination at scientific meetings are allowable, but preclinical research costs, animal research costs, and excessive conference travel costs are prohibited. The opportunity specifically excludes preclinical research involving animals or cell lines and requires rigorous adherence to accepted reporting standards such as CONSORT, STROBE, SPIRIT, and ARRIVE guidance. Eligibility is broad and includes domestic and foreign organizations, nonprofit organizations, for-profit entities, public institutions, private institutions, and intramural Department of War organizations. Independent investigators affiliated with eligible organizations may serve as Principal Investigators regardless of nationality or citizenship. Cost sharing is not required. Applications from collaborations among academia, industry, the Department of War, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies are strongly encouraged. Community collaboration is a major program requirement. Research Level 1 applications are encouraged to include community collaborators, while Research Level 2 applications are required to include them. Community collaborators may include patients, care partners, advocacy organizations, or community advisory boards who contribute to planning, implementation, evaluation, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement throughout the project lifecycle. The application process involves a mandatory two-step submission process consisting of a pre-application submitted through eBRAP followed by an invited full application submitted through Grants.gov or eBRAP depending on applicant type. The pre-application requires a one-page preproposal narrative that includes background, objectives, specific aims, study design, and projected impact on arthritis care and military health relevance. Supporting materials include references and abbreviations. Only applicants invited after pre-application review may submit full applications. Full application components are extensive and include a project narrative, supporting documentation, technical abstract, lay abstract, statement of work, impact statement, study population recruitment and safety plan, personnel and organizational structure, transition plan, community collaboration plan when applicable, regulatory strategy for Research Level 2 applications, and additional budget and compliance forms. Applications are reviewed for alignment with focus areas, scientific merit, clinical impact, feasibility, recruitment and retention planning, statistical rigor, transition potential, ethical considerations, and military relevance. The submission timeline for the FY26 competition begins with a pre-application deadline of July 22, 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Invitations to submit full applications are expected on August 27, 2026. Full applications are due October 22, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time, with application verification closing October 27, 2026. Peer review is expected in December 2026 and programmatic review in February 2027. Awards are anticipated to be issued no later than September 30, 2027. The program announcement identifies the opportunity as an initial announcement rather than a continuation or supplemental cycle, but the Arthritis Research Program itself is an annually appropriated federal program, making future opportunities likely. Questions regarding eBRAP submissions are directed to the eBRAP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507, while Grants.gov support is available at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726.

Explicitly align the proposal with one of the two FY26 focus areas and clearly demonstrate clinical impact on arthritis management and military health. Provide strong preliminary data and rigorous statistical planning. Emphasize feasibility of recruitment and retention plans. Integrate meaningful community collaboration into study design and dissemination activities. Clearly explain transition and implementation pathways for future clinical adoption.