$8 million in FY10 funding available for Gulf War illness researchers

Department of Defense Gulf War Illness Research Program  Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2010

The Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Defense Appropriations Act provides $8 million to the Department of Defense Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP) to find and fund the best research to improve the lives of veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI).

This program is administered by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command through the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), and includes scientists and affected Gulf War veterans.  The program is funded through an annual earmarked Congressional appropriation through the legislative advocacy of Gulf War veterans and veterans organizations.

The FY10 GWIRP encourages proposals that specifically address critical needs of ill Gulf War veterans in the following areas :

• Innovative Gulf War Illness research to identify effective treatments, improve definition and diagnosis, and better understand pathobiology and symptoms
• Research focusing on identification of objective measures to distinguish ill from healthy veterans (e.g. biomarkers), or potential treatment targets for GWI. Studies that characterize chronic effects of neurotoxic exposures encountered during the 1991 Persian Gulf War (at comparable dosages) are also acceptable.
• NEW for FY10: Proposals must utilize a case definition to distinguish ill Gulf War veterans consistent with the research questions or hypotheses proposed

FY10 GWIRP program announcements and application instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted and available on www.Grants.gov in March 2010.

Funding Award Mechanisms

Consortium Development Award -- Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

• Funds support establishing multidisciplinary collaborations and developing a plan and budget for a consortium that will focus on research related to GWI
• Funds may NOT be used to support actual research
• Funded applicants will be eligible for and expected to compete for a full Consortium Award to be offered in FY11 (assuming funds are available)
• LOI is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

• Maximum funding of $200,000 for direct costs for up to a 1-year performance period (plus indirect costs)
• Anticipate 2 awards

Clinical Trial Award  -- Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Fund clinical trials with potential for significant impact on ill GW veterans; Phase II or III for therapy trials, Classes I-III for devices; behavioral or alternative medicine trials as appropriate
• Preclinical data required for all clinical trial proposals
• Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

• Maximum funding of $1,500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Period of performance should not exceed 4 years
• Anticipate 1 award

Innovative Treatment Evaluation Award (ITEA) -- Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Fund small scale, exploratory pilot clinical trials with sound logical reasons for potential impact on ill GW veterans; Phase I, II, or I/II for therapy trials; Class I-III for device trials; behavioral or alternative medicine trials as appropriate
• Preclinical data is not required
• Preproposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

• Maximum funding of $450,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
• Anticipate 2 awards

Investigator Initiated Research Award -- Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Supports basic and clinical research relevant to GWI
• Research Strategy and Impact are the most important review criteria
• Preliminary data is not required, and if provided does not necessarily need to be from the field of GWI. Clinical trials are not permitted.
• Pre-proposal is required; proposal submission is by invitation only

• Maximum funding of $600,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Period of performance should not exceed 3 years
• Anticipate 3 awards

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the CDMRP eReceipt website (http://cdmrp.org) prior to proposal submission. Proposals must be submitted through the federal government's single-entry portal, Grants.gov. Individual program announcements and required forms will also be found on the Grants.gov website.

Information in this pre-announcement is being provided to allow investigators time to plan and develop proposals. All proposals submitted must conform to the final program announcements, which will be posted on Grants.gov at a later date. The number of awards anticipated in each mechanism is based on available funds, average cost of proposals, and quality of proposals received. The GWIRP reserves the right to make awards in greater or lesser numbers than anticipated. Each program announcement will be available electronically for downloading from the www.Grants.gov or CDMRP website. The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on www.Grants.gov.

Requests for email notification of the release of program announcements may be sent to Help@cdmrp.org. For more information about the GWIRP or other CDMRP-sponsored programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Points of Contact:

• Gail Whitehead or Dorsey Dupont, Public Affairs, CDMRP, 301-619-7783
  CDMRP.PublicAffairs@amedd.army.mil