DoD Spinal Cord Injury Translational Research Award | W81XWH 18 SCIRP TRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 18 SCIRP TRA

The Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Translational Research Award (SCIRP TRA) is a competitive funding opportunity designed to push promising spinal cord injury (SCI) research beyond basic discovery and toward real-world clinical use. Its central aim is to speed up translation, meaning the practical steps needed to move an intervention from a strong scientific idea into something that can be tested, validated, and ultimately used to improve outcomes for people living with SCI. Rather than focusing on early, purely exploratory science, this award emphasizes research positioned closer to application, where there is a clear path toward clinical impact.

This opportunity supports translational studies that help bridge the gap between laboratory findings and patient care. While the program description is not meant to be exhaustive, it highlights the types of work it expects to fund: demonstration studies of pharmaceuticals and medical devices in preclinical systems, and clinical research evaluating therapeutics, devices, or clinical practices. Importantly, the scope can include studies that rely on human tissues or other human-derived resources, reflecting the program's interest in evidence that is clinically relevant and more directly connected to patient biology and treatment environments.

The funding is offered under either a grant or a cooperative agreement mechanism. A grant typically allows the recipient substantial independence in conducting the project, while a cooperative agreement generally implies more active involvement by the funding agency during execution, which is common for programs where coordination, milestones, or close scientific oversight can help ensure that results remain aligned with translational goals. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding within the Department of Defense research and development mission area, specifically under Science and Technology and other R&D, and it is associated with CFDA number 12.420.

Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning the competition is open to a broad range of applicant entity types, as long as any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement are satisfied. The sponsoring organization is the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, administered through the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). The notice for this specific cycle was created on May 29, 2018, with an original closing date of October 15, 2018. The program anticipated making about three awards. The listed award ceiling is shown as 0, which usually indicates that the maximum funding level is not specified in the summary record and would need to be confirmed in the full funding announcement or associated program guidelines.

In practical terms, applicants considering this award would typically be expected to propose a project with a strong rationale for why the work is ready for translation, a well-defined plan for generating evidence that can support clinical advancement, and a credible pathway showing how the results could inform next-step testing, adoption, or development. The overall focus is on accelerating SCI solutions that are poised to move into clinical application, including therapeutics and devices, with an emphasis on work that can meaningfully shorten the time between promising research and patient benefit.

• 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 Spinal Cord Injury Translational Research 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 29, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 15, 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 3 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 18 SCIRP TRA

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