DoD Breast Cancer, Innovator Award | W81XWH 21 BCRP INNOV

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 21 BCRP INNOV

The DoD Breast Cancer Innovator Award (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-21-BCRP-INNOV) is a U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program opportunity run through the Department of the Army, USAMRAA, designed to back exceptional people rather than tightly defined projects. The core idea is to identify a Principal Investigator (PI) with a track record of unusually creative, paradigm-shifting leadership and then give that individual the resources and flexibility to pursue bold, high-risk, high-reward ideas aimed at accelerating progress toward ending breast cancer. While many research grants emphasize detailed project plans and incremental aims, this mechanism is built around the PI's demonstrated ability to challenge prevailing assumptions, change how a field thinks or operates, and set a new direction that could meaningfully alter breast cancer research or patient care.

A defining feature of this award is that breast cancer experience is not a requirement, as long as the proposed work is clearly focused on breast cancer. The program explicitly welcomes innovators from other disciplines who can bring fresh concepts, tools, or frameworks into breast cancer, which reflects the broader intent to shake loose new ways of thinking that might not emerge from traditional pipelines. At the same time, the PI must commit substantial effort to the breast cancer focus: the announcement requires that the PI maintain 50 percent of their full-time professional effort on breast cancer research during the award period, and that commitment can be met through a combination of this award and other existing support.

The award also expects the PI to operate as a proven leader and collaborator. Applicants are expected to assemble a research team with the expertise needed to pursue the overall vision and to demonstrate the PI's ability to form and lead effective partnerships. Another major requirement is mentorship: proposals must incorporate mentoring of promising junior investigators, reinforcing that the program is not only trying to generate breakthrough ideas but also to cultivate the next wave of creative leaders who can keep innovation moving in the breast cancer space.

A notable emphasis of this opportunity is meaningful consumer involvement. Each application must include two or more breast cancer consumer advocates as part of the research team. These advocates must be individuals diagnosed with breast cancer who are actively involved in a breast cancer advocacy organization, and they must serve as independent lay representatives rather than employees of any organization participating in the application. The announcement also makes clear that these advocates should be sufficiently knowledgeable about current breast cancer issues and have appropriate background or training to contribute to research discussions. Their role is to provide objective input on the research direction and, especially, its potential impact for people who have breast cancer or are at risk for it, strengthening relevance and accountability to patient and survivor communities.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed as a discretionary federal funding program under CFDA 12.420, using grant and/or cooperative agreement instruments. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility language in the full notice). The posting indicates an expected total of one award, and it lists an award ceiling of 0, which typically signals that applicants must consult the full program announcement for budget guidance and any constraints or expectations not captured in the summary fields. The opportunity was created January 6, 2021, with an original closing date of June 23, 2021. Overall, the Innovator Award is best understood as a prestige-style investment in a rare kind of scientific leader: someone established enough to run an ambitious, collaborative effort, but unconventional enough to propose a credible vision that breaks with standard thinking and could materially speed progress against breast cancer.

• 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 Breast Cancer, Innovator 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 Jan 06, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 23, 2021. (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 21 BCRP INNOV

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