DoD Tick-Borne Disease, Idea Development Award | W81XWH 20 TBDRP IDA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 20 TBDRP IDA

The DoD Tick-Borne Disease, Idea Development Award (FY20 TBDRP IDA) is a research funding opportunity from the Department of Defense (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity under CDMRP) aimed at generating impactful, forward-moving discoveries in Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. The program is designed to accelerate progress not only in scientific understanding, but also in patient care and overall quality of life, with a clear emphasis on relevance to military Service members, Veterans, and their beneficiaries, while also benefiting the broader American public. In practice, the award is meant for projects that can shift the field in meaningful ways rather than simply add a small next step to what is already known.

A central theme of this opportunity is innovation. Proposed work is expected to be conceptually creative, such as introducing a new scientific concept or question, challenging existing assumptions, or applying a fresh perspective or novel approach to persistent problems in tick-borne disease research. The DoD explicitly signals that incremental extensions of published findings are not the target for this mechanism. Applicants are expected to spell out both the near-term and long-term impact of their ideas and to ground the proposal in the real, evidence-based burden of disease on public health. In addition, applications must include a clearly formulated, testable hypothesis supported by strong scientific rationale, built from logical reasoning, critical review of the existing literature, and preliminary data when available (though preliminary data is not presented as strictly required).

The award supports a broad range of research stages from basic science through translational work. This includes preclinical and clinical research approaches, as well as correlative studies tied to an existing clinical trial, when the goal is to establish proof-of-principle that can justify and enable larger future efforts. However, while human subjects research and work with human anatomical substances are allowed, new clinical trials are not permitted under this announcement. The program uses a specific definition of a clinical trial: any study in which human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (including placebo or controls) to evaluate effects on biomedical or behavioral health-related outcomes. That distinction matters because it still leaves room for observational studies, analysis of existing trial samples, and other human-related research that does not prospectively assign interventions.

To increase rigor and make the most of existing investments, the DoD encourages (but does not require) the use of validated specimens and data from Lyme and other tick-borne disease biorepositories and databases. This emphasis reflects an interest in maximizing statistical power and leveraging well-curated resources rather than repeatedly building small, underpowered datasets from scratch. Applicants are also strongly encouraged, where appropriate, to incorporate several quality and rigor practices into study design. These include authenticating cell lines, applying statistical rigor in in vitro and animal experiments, and validating findings in well-characterized patient cohorts with uniform documentation. Projects that analyze data from large patient studies with long-term health records and linked biospecimen repositories are particularly encouraged, as are proposals that apply modern genomic or proteomic methods, advanced bioinformatics, and mathematical modeling to those kinds of datasets. If curated biospecimens or database resources are used, the application must clearly describe the inclusion and exclusion criteria for those samples or data so reviewers can judge the validity and suitability of the resource for the proposed analyses.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, awards are issued as assistance agreements, meaning the government is supporting a public purpose rather than procuring a service for direct government use. The assistance agreement may be structured as either a grant or a cooperative agreement, and which one is used depends primarily on the expected level of DoD involvement during the project. If no substantial involvement is anticipated, it is typically a grant; if substantial DoD involvement is anticipated (such as collaboration, participation, or intervention in the work), it becomes a cooperative agreement, with the nature of that involvement spelled out in the award terms. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity, subject to any clarifications in the full announcement).

Financially, the anticipated direct costs for the entire period of performance are capped at $600,000 per award. For the FY20 cycle, CDMRP planned to allocate about $4.80 million total to make roughly five awards, though actual funding depends on federal funds availability, the number of applications received, and how applications score during scientific and programmatic review. Key dates listed for this opportunity include an original application closing date of August 27, 2020, and an intent to make awards no later than September 30, 2021. The funding was expected to come from FY20 appropriations, with funds available for use for a limited period and expiring for use on September 30, 2026.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Tick-Borne Disease, Idea Development Award" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 17, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 27, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for W81XWH 20 TBDRP IDA

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