DoD Melanoma Research Team Science Award | HT9425 23 MRP TSA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 MRP TSA

The DoD Melanoma Research Team Science Award (FY23 MRP TSA; opportunity number HT9425 23 MRP TSA) is a Department of Defense funding opportunity administered through the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) to support hypothesis-driven melanoma research projects that use a true team-science model. The core aim is to fund multidisciplinary studies that align with at least one of the FY23 Melanoma Research Program (MRP) Focus Areas and that can realistically deliver innovations in melanoma biology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and/or patient care. Although basic research projects are allowed, applicants are expected to clearly explain how the work could matter to patients, both in the near term (practical outputs, translational steps, clinical relevance) and over the longer term (how the findings could shift understanding or improve outcomes for the melanoma community).

A defining feature of this award is the requirement for a small, tightly integrated leadership team: the project must be jointly designed and executed by at least two and no more than three Principal Investigators. One PI is designated the Initiating PI, who takes primary responsibility for putting the application package together and handling most submission-related administrative tasks. The other PI(s) are listed as Partnering PI(s). If the proposal is selected for funding, each PI receives an individual award issued to their home organization, and the expectation is that the administrative workload does not fall on just one person. Instead, the PIs are anticipated to share responsibilities across reporting, regulatory compliance, and other award-management obligations throughout the project period.

The program is explicitly built to encourage cross-pollination between fields. At least one member of the PI partnership must bring direct experience in melanoma research or melanoma patient care, ensuring the project is grounded in real melanoma expertise. At the same time, bringing in investigators from outside the melanoma field is encouraged when it adds meaningful capability or perspective, such as expertise from immunology, computational biology, engineering, data science, imaging, drug delivery, behavioral science, or other therapeutic areas that could unlock new directions in melanoma research. The emphasis is on synergy: the partnership should create value that would not be achievable by a single investigator working independently, and the scientific plan should demonstrate that integration in the questions being asked, the methods being used, and the way results will be interpreted and moved toward impact.

The opportunity also draws a clear boundary around what does and does not count as genuine team science. Each PI is expected to contribute substantial intellectual input and real research effort, not just resources. A collaboration where a Partnering PI mainly provides reagents, tissue samples, access to patient cohorts, or other supporting materials without being deeply involved in shaping and executing the science is described as inconsistent with the intent of the award. Multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged, which reflects the program's interest in assembling the best mix of expertise and capabilities, even when that requires coordinating across universities, medical centers, research institutes, industry partners, or other organizations.

From an administrative and funding profile standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary and may be offered as a grant and/or cooperative agreement, under CFDA number 12.420. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement. The posting indicates an anticipated total of about six awards. Key dates in the published notice show a creation date of May 18, 2023 and an original closing date of September 22, 2023. The public listing shows an award ceiling of 0, which typically means the ceiling was not specified in the summary field and applicants would need to consult the full funding announcement for budget caps, project period limits, and other fiscal details.

Overall, this award is best understood as funding for tightly coordinated, multidisciplinary melanoma projects where the partnership itself is central to the innovation. Successful proposals are expected to be hypothesis-driven, responsive to the program focus areas, designed around genuine scientific integration across investigators, and articulated in a way that makes the patient relevance and potential clinical or translational trajectory easy to understand and evaluate.

• 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 Melanoma Research Team Science 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 May 18, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 22, 2023. (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 6 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.

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