New Eating Disorders Research Funding Available Under Department of Defense

As you may have heard, the Department of Defense (DoD) recently released the announcement for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) that permits funding for eating disorders research!

This is the first time funding has been available for eating disorders research through this program. For this funding to continue, the DoD needs to receive a high number of strong proposals for eating disorders research funding. Please consider applying to help show the importance of federal research funding for eating disorders!

Some quick info: 

The PRMRP is comprised of a larger fund of $300 million dollars. Funding is only permitted for the 48 diseases included within the FY2017 year, which includes eating disorders. There will not be a specific announcement for eating disorders, however, past funding allocations demonstrate that if enough strong applications are received, $3-$5 million dollars for eating disorders research will be granted.

There are 5 categories within this award mechanism for research, including:

1. Clinical Trial Award

• Rapid implementation of clinical trials of novel interventions with the potential to have significant impact on the disease

2. Discovery Award

• Innovative, non-incremental, high-risk/potentially high-reward research that will provide new insights, paradigms, technologies, or applications for the disease

3. Focused Program Award

• Synergistic, multidisciplinary research program of at least four distinct but complementary projects addressing an overarching goal in the disease

4. Investigator-Initiated Award

• Research that will make an important contribution to the field of research and/or patient care in the disease area

5. Technology/Therapeutic Development Award 

• Translation of preclinical findings into products for clinical applications including the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or quality of life in the disease area

Pre-Application Deadline:

• The Pre-Application (letter of intent) has been released and is due between July 13th and July 20th.
• The Pre-Application should be 5-6 pages in length and should have a larger focus on impact and a limited focus on explaining eating disorders.

Application Deadline:

• An “Invitation to Apply” will be sent out for the full application. The full application deadline will be between August 2nd and October 26th, depending on which mechanism you apply for.

Note the deadline for the clinical trial award is October 26, 2017. 

Awards are expected to be announced starting in Spring 2018 and researchers will receive funds no later than September 30, 2018.

Tips for the Application:

• As the funding is through the Department of Defense, it is very important to include the connection to military members and their families and how your research could potentially impact their lives. However, do note that the actual research does not necessarily require that this population to be the focus of the research.
• Focus on impact and putting the impact up front in the application. The DoD program prioritizes research that can be immediately applied to the field to help individuals affected by the disease- for example treatment, prevention, medication. They want something that changes the paradigm, and don’t want you spending much time explaining the actual disease.
• Pay attention to the details of the program announcement and instructions, as they make limited exceptions if applicants do not follow instructions, for example, going over the page limit or miscalculating the budget.
• Note that grants.gov often miscalculates direct vs. total costs, so be sure to calculate internally and not rely on the grants.gov system.
• Ensure you are registered in SAM under grants.gov.
• There are no grace periods unless there is a natural disaster.
• The proposed research can be between 1 and 4 years long, though there is an additional 3-year no-cost extension.
• They have a high priority in not duplicating other research that is the filed, especially if it is government-funded. In turn, ensure that there isn’t the same research being done elsewhere.
• You will also need to submit the past five years of all research funding support you have received, showing which research you have done and that it’s not currently being funded or is pending.