DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Patient Well-Being and Survivorship Award | HT9425 23 PRCRP PWSA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 PRCRP PWSA

The DoD Peer Reviewed Cancer, Patient Well-Being and Survivorship Award (PWSA) is a funding opportunity under the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program) aimed at improving what life looks like during and after cancer, not just extending survival. It supports innovative, patient-centered studies that address preservation of physical function, quality of life, symptom management, resilience, neurocognitive challenges, and psychosocial concerns tied to cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Projects must connect clearly to at least one of the FY23 PRCRP Topic Areas and should be designed to fill real gaps in survivorship knowledge, including the psychological health and day-to-day well-being of people affected by cancer such as patients, survivors, family members, and caregivers.

A major emphasis of the PWSA is producing work that can meaningfully shift patient outcomes in practical settings. The program is looking for research with a strong potential for impact on patient well-being across the cancer care continuum, including at diagnosis, during treatment, and after treatment ends. Competitive applications are expected to show how the proposed work could transform survivorship-related outcomes within the chosen PRCRP topic area, challenge current assumptions in care, and accelerate the movement of promising ideas into clinical use. The funding mechanism allows for translational and clinical research approaches, and it can include pilot clinical trials, as long as the work remains aligned with patient well-being and survivorship goals rather than basic mechanistic laboratory science.

The types of studies encouraged by this award include research on decision-making, cognitive function, educational interventions, and methods to prevent or reduce treatment-related toxicity and long-term burdens. That can include palliative and supportive care strategies, management of psychological distress and anxiety, and interventions designed to improve functioning and emotional health during treatment and into long-term survivorship. The opportunity also welcomes work that examines how behavioral and social functioning relates to cancer initiation, progression, detection, treatment, and rehabilitation, including studies focused on defined populations where mental health or cancer-related outcomes may be improved through targeted interventions. Overall, the program leans toward evidence-based practices and behavioral health science, including intervention development, implementation, surveillance approaches for patient well-being, and measurement of psychosocial outcomes that matter to patients.

The award is strict about what does not fit. Basic laboratory studies are considered inappropriate for this mechanism and may be withdrawn, and studies using animal models are also not supported. Instead, proposals need a clearly justified human-focused study design. Applicants are expected to describe the architecture of the study in a straightforward way, whether it is descriptive, correlational, field experimental, or a meta-analysis, and to define the study population precisely. The program expects a rationale that supports the selected design, including statistical considerations that demonstrate the approach is sound. If questionnaires or patient-reported measures are part of the plan, they must be described with enough detail that reviewers can understand how results will be interpreted and how the instruments align with the study aims.

Preliminary data requirements depend on whether the project includes active recruitment of human subjects for a pilot clinical trial. If the application proposes prospective recruitment for a pilot clinical trial, preliminary data are required. If the study does not involve active recruitment, preliminary data are not mandatory, but the proposal still needs to be grounded in strong logic and supported by relevant literature and prior evidence.

A defining feature of the PWSA is mandatory, meaningful patient advocate participation. Each application must include at least one cancer patient advocate who is connected to the specific cancer topic area being studied. This advocate must be integrated into the project from planning through implementation, rather than serving as a symbolic or occasional advisor. The advocate may be someone currently living with cancer, a survivor with no evidence of disease, or a family member or caregiver, and they should be active in a cancer advocacy organization. The role is intended to provide objective, patient-informed input on the relevance of the research question, the feasibility and acceptability of the study design, project oversight, evaluation, and the real-world impact on people affected by cancer. The program also indicates that at least one patient advocate should have a high level of knowledge of current issues in the selected PRCRP topic area, reinforcing that the advocate is expected to be a substantive contributor to the research team.

Administratively, this opportunity is offered by the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA) under CFDA 12.420, with funding provided via grant or cooperative agreement. Eligibility is broadly “unrestricted,” meaning it is open to many entity types unless additional eligibility language in the full announcement imposes limits. The posted opportunity information indicates an expected number of awards of four, an original closing date of August 10, 2023, and an award ceiling listed as 0 (which typically signals that the ceiling is not specified in that field and applicants should confirm budget limits in the full program announcement). Overall, the PWSA is best understood as a survivorship and quality-of-life research mechanism that prioritizes patient-relevant impact, rigorous human-centered study design, and genuine partnership with patient advocates to ensure the work remains grounded in real needs and real outcomes.

• 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 Peer Reviewed Cancer, Patient Well-Being and Survivorship 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 Apr 04, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 10, 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 4 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 HT9425 23 PRCRP PWSA

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