DoD Kidney Cancer, Consortium Development Award | W81XWH 17 KCRP CDA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 17 KCRP CDA

The DoD Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) Consortium Development Award is designed to jump-start a large, multi-institutional clinical effort in kidney cancer by funding the planning and build-out of the infrastructure needed to run future multi-site clinical trials. Rather than paying primarily for a single stand-alone study, this mechanism focuses on creating the organizational backbone of a national consortium so that subsequent trials can be launched efficiently, consistently, and at scale. The work is intended to be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and also broadly beneficial to the American public.

This FY17 award is the first step in a two-stage strategy. The Consortium Development Award supports development activities in FY17, and the program anticipates a follow-on Consortium Award in FY19 to support the actual multi-institutional clinical trials once the consortium is ready. Applicants funded under the FY17 development mechanism are expected to apply for the FY19 Consortium Award. At the same time, the program reserves flexibility: it may open the FY19 competition more broadly to other eligible applicants, or it may choose to re-release the development mechanism again in FY19 if the FY17 awardee does not meet the infrastructure goals. The KCRP expects to fund one Consortium Development Award in FY17, depending on application volume and quality.

A central requirement is that the consortium be geographically dispersed and structured as a true collaborative network. The consortium must include a Coordinating Center led by the Consortium Director (the Principal Investigator for the Coordinating Center) and at least three Clinical Trial Sites. The expectation is that each Clinical Trial Site will actively contribute resources and participate in shared decision-making and coordinated execution, not operate as a loosely connected group. Leadership is a major emphasis: the Consortium Director must demonstrate the experience and scientific standing to oversee a complex, multi-site effort, and the PI and co-PIs are expected to be established clinicians and scientists with meaningful contributions to kidney cancer research.

The core deliverable is clinical trial infrastructure development. This includes building collaborations among institutions, defining a clear administrative and governance structure, and putting in place practical systems for research management and communication across sites. Applicants are also expected to devise and implement an intellectual property plan so that discoveries, tools, and rights are handled consistently across institutions. The award is meant to produce a functioning consortium framework that can support multi-institutional clinical trials, with procedures and policies aligned across sites.

By the end of the award period, the consortium should be operating with shared processes and minimal duplication. The program stresses standardization and resource sharing across member institutions, with the intent that the consortium functions as one integrated unit. Examples of assets expected to be shared or coordinated include experimental techniques, databases, models, antibodies, biomarker tools, and phenotyping processes. The goal is to avoid each site recreating the same capabilities and instead to build shared platforms that accelerate trial readiness and scientific progress.

The opportunity also places strong emphasis on harmonizing key operational elements that often slow down multi-site clinical work. The consortium is expected to establish unified processes related to ethics review, contract management, and data sharing. In practical terms, the Coordinating Center and all Clinical Trial Sites should have regulatory agreements, material transfer arrangements, and intellectual property agreements completed by the award end date. If any of these elements are delayed, the expectation is that the delays are clearly documented, justified, and paired with a mitigation plan, because readiness and follow-through will factor into consideration for the anticipated FY19 Consortium Award.

Finally, the award is forward-looking in terms of growth. Recipients are expected to leave the development period with concrete plans to expand the consortium to additional Clinical Trial Sites, positioning the network to support broader patient access, faster accrual, and greater generalizability of future kidney cancer trials. From a funding opportunity standpoint, the sponsor is the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA), the instrument types include cooperative agreements and grants, eligibility is broadly open (unrestricted, with any clarifications governed by the announcement text), and the original posting timeline for this FY17 opportunity lists a creation date of October 25, 2017 and a closing date of January 4, 2018, with an expectation of a single award.

• 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 Kidney Cancer, Consortium 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 Oct 25, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 04, 2018. (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 1 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 17 KCRP CDA

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